Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation: An Appraisal

Economic reforms have been criticised on the following grounds:
(a) Privatisation encourages growth-ofunonopoly power in the hands of big business houses. It results in greater inequalities of income and wealth.
(b) Globalisation has devastated local producers since they are unable to compete with cheap imports.
(c) Economic reforms have led to mounting workers unrest. Workers have protested against low wages, poor working conditions, autocratic management rule, long work days and fall in social benefits.
(d) These have made public employees worse off. Public employees are adversely effected by budget cuts, privatisation and massive loss of purchasing power.
(e) Small business class is adversely affected by fall of public subsidies, de-industrialisation and floods of cheap imports.
(f) During the globalisation phase, about half a billion people in South Asia have experienced a decline in their income. Data shows that it is the poor who have suffered most.
(g) Since the government is unable to help the victims of globalisation, the provisions of social safety net have been weakened.
(h) The global village appears deeply divided between the street of the haves and those of the havenots. The average person in Norway (which has highest human development) and the average person in countries such as Niger (which has lowest human development) certainly live in different human development districts of the global village.