Globalisation too rapid, says world

One out of two Indians feels that “economic globalisation, including trade and investment” is happening too fast for their liking, a new BBC World Service global poll has revealed.

Surprisingly, 53 per cent of people in the US, 55 per cent in the UK and 64 per cent of the people in France feel the same way. According to the poll, in G-7 (or most developed) countries, 57 per cent of the people, on average, feel that globalisation is happening too fast.

The survey was conducted among 34,528 citizens in 34 countries over three months ending in January, by international polling firm Globescan with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) in the University of Maryland.

In India, 1,103 people were interviewed by CVoter, Globescan research partner, in mid-January, around the time the stock markets fell sharply. The survey covered both urban and rural India.

Nearly a third of the people surveyed in 27 countries — an average of 64 per cent — believe the benefits and burdens of “the economic developments of the past few years” have not been shared fairly. The proportion in India that believes this is 59 per cent.