Listen and look

High profile book campaigns, corporate schmoozing and other devices that keep the wheels of intellectual globalisation moving have resulted in some of the most notable practitioners congregating in Delhi this week. The Indian capital of course has the advantage that one of its citizens, the prime minister, not only has a well-rounded intellectual view of globalisation, he is also uniquely situated in that he8217;s trying to manage the engagement between the world and its second fastest growing economy. On Monday, Manmohan Singh, addressing an audience that included Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, argued that the West both needs to do more and understand more when engaging with developing societies. Later, Stiglitz told the media that the WTO Doha talks might be dead. A day later, yesterday, George Soros repeated his reservations on market functions under certain conditions. Sen, of course, is famous for his clear analysis of the importance of basic needs in defining true empowerment.

It is possible, if one is so inclined, to interpret from all this an elegant and somewhat grim reading of global capitalism by some very famous people. Those so inclined won8217;t be persuaded by a different reading. But they may want to take a look at a report that came out almost at the same time as Delhi was being treated to these fine lectures on globalisation. The World Bank8217;s Global Economic Prospects says world economic growth will, first, continue to be very robust and, second, the influence of developing countries on this growth will be more. In the next quarter-century, according to Bank estimates, per capita income in the developing world will be more than 10,000.

When has that ever looked possible except in recent past when globalisation took off? What does that say about the prospects of combating poverty? Of course, globalisation poses adjustment costs. But as long as growth is delivered, public policy can address distribution questions. Sometimes the best way to understand globalisation is not to listen but to look 8212; at the numbers.