First, explain and discuss the reasoning that might have been used to claim that trade liberalisation with the developing world would ‘[harm] less-skilled workers in developed countries’ and why this reasoning may not have worked, as preliminarily concluded after the intense debate. (1000 words)In a recent journal article, Prof. Adrian Wood (University of Oxford) stated the following:
“In the 1990s, after an intense debate, the economics profession concluded that increasing trade with developing countries was not substantially harming less-skilled workers in developed countries. Twenty years later, however, it was widely asserted that the costs of globalisation to less-skilled workers were a key cause of Brexit, Trump and political extremism in continental Europe. Did the economics profession thus make a serious mistake?”
(Wood, A. (2018). The 1990s trade and wages debate in retrospect. The World Economy, 41(4), p. 975, italics added)
Second, provide your view on whether globalisation has been negatively affecting less-skilled workers in advanced countries or, even, worldwide. (1000 words)
Please note: The space devoted to each part (First and Second) of the essay question should be balanced.