A Global Economy Needs Global Economic Governance
Mr. Peter Mandelson, the European Union's Trade Commissioner, has written a thoughtful Op Ed ( In defence of globalisation , The Guardian, October 3 2008) whose key message—namely, that "a global economy needs global economic governance"—is not only extremely timely, but may, in fact, be broadened in the scope of its underlying recommendation. The process of globalisation is unfolding in the absence of equivalent progress in the creation of an international institutional infrastructure that can support it and enhance its potential for good. There is no global environmental authority; policy in this area is being done via ad hoc approaches involving elements of international cooperation, voluntary compliance, and large doses of hope. In the absence of a body with jurisdiction over the global environment and the associated legal enforcement authority, de facto, the international community has abdicated management of the world's environment to chance and the actions of a