Our modern era is marked by the complex phenomenon of economic and financial globalization, a process that progressively integrates national economies at the level of the exchange of goods and services and of financial transactions. In this process, an ever growing number of those involved in the economic sector is prompted to adopt a more global perspective concerning the choices that they must make with regard to future growth and profits. The new perspective of global society does not simply consist in the presence of economic and financial bonds between national forces at work in different countries, which have moreover always been present, but in the pervasiveness and the absolutely unprecedented nature of the system of relations that is developing. The role of financial markets is becoming ever more decisive and central. Following the liberalization of capital exchange and circulation, these market dimensions have increased enormously and with incredible speed, to the point that agents can “in real time”, transfer large quantities of capital from one part of the globe to another. This is a multifaceted reality that is difficult to decipher, since it expands at different levels and is in continuous evolution along paths that cannot easily be predicted.
Globalization gives rise to new hopes while at the same time it poses troubling questions.749Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America, 20: AAS 91 (1999), 756. Globalization is able to produce potentially beneficial effects for the whole of humanity. In the wake of dizzying developments in the field of telecommunications, the growth of the system of economic and financial relations has brought about simultaneously a significant reduction in the costs of communications and new communication technologies, and has accelerated the process by which commercial trade and financial transactions are expanding worldwide. In other words, the two phenomena of economic-financial globalization and technological progress have mutually strengthened each other, making the whole process of this present phase of transition extremely rapid. In analyzing the present context, besides identifying the opportunities now opening up in the era of the global economy, one also comes to see the risks connected with the new dimensions of commercial and financial relations. In fact, there are indications aplenty that point to a trend of increasing inequalities, both between advanced countries and developing countries, and within industrialized countries. The growing economic wealth made possible by the processes described above is accompanied by an increase in relative poverty.
Looking after the common good means making use of the new opportunities for the redistribution of wealth among the different areas of the planet, to the benefit of the underprivileged that until now have been excluded or cast to the sidelines of social and economic progress.750Cf. John Paul II, Address to members of the “Centesimus Annus - Pro Pontifice” Foundation (9 May 1998), 2: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 27 May 1998, p. 6. “The challenge, in short, is to ensure a globalization in solidarity, a globalization without marginalization”.751John Paul II, Message for the 1998 World Day of Peace, 3: AAS 90 (1998), 150. This technological progress itself risks being unfairly distributed among countries. In fact, technological innovations can penetrate and spread within a specific community only if the potential beneficiaries have a minimum level of knowledge and financial resources. It is evident that, because of the great disparities between countries regarding access to technical and scientific knowledge and to the most recent products of technology, the process of globalization ends up increasing rather than decreasing the inequalities between countries in terms of economic and social development. Given the nature of the current dynamics, the free circulation of capital is not of itself sufficient to close the gap between developing countries and the more advanced countries.
Trade represents a fundamental component of international economic relations, making a decisive contribution to the specialization in certain types of production and to the economic growth of different countries. Today more than ever, international trade — if properly oriented — promotes development and can create new employment possibilities and provide useful resources. The Church's social doctrine has time and again called attention to aberrations in the system of international trade,752Cf. Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 61: AAS 59 (1967), 287. which often, owing to protectionist policies, discriminates against products coming from poorer countries and hinders the growth of industrial activity in and the transfer of technology to these countries.753Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 43: AAS 80 (1988), 574-575. The continuing deterioration in terms of the exchange of raw materials and the widening of the gap between rich and poor countries has prompted the social Magisterium to point out the importance of ethical criteria that should form the basis of international economic relations: the pursuit of the common good and the universal destination of goods; equity in trade relationships; and attention to the rights and needs of the poor in policies concerning trade and international cooperation. Otherwise, “the poor nations remain ever poor while the rich ones become still richer”.754Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 57: AAS 59 (1967), 285.
An adequate solidarity in the era of globalization requires that human rights be defended. In this regard, the Magisterium points out that not only the “vision of an effective international public authority at the service of human rights, freedom and peace has not yet been entirely achieved, but there is still in fact much hesitation in the international community about the obligation to respect and implement human rights. This duty touches all fundamental rights, excluding that arbitrary picking and choosing which can lead to rationalizing forms of discrimination and injustice. Likewise, we are witnessing the emergence of an alarming gap between a series of new ‘rights' being promoted in advanced societies – the result of new prosperity and new technologies – and other more basic human rights still not being met, especially in situations of underdevelopment. I am thinking here for example about the right to food and drinkable water, to housing and security, to self-determination and independence – which are still far from being guaranteed and realized”.755John Paul II, Message for the 2003 World Day of Peace, 5: AAS 95 (2003), 343.
As globalization spreads it must be accompanied by an ever more mature awareness on the part of different organizations of civil society of the new tasks to which they are called on a worldwide level. Thanks also to resolute action taken by these organizations, it will be possible to place the present process of economic and financial growth taking place on a global scale within a framework that guarantees an effective respect of human rights and of the rights of peoples, as well as an equitable distribution of resources within every country and between different countries: “freedom of trade is fair only when it is in accord with the demands of justice”.756Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 59: AAS 59 (1967), 286. Special attention must be given to specific local features and the cultural differences that are threatened by the economic and financial process currently underway: “Globalization must not be a new version of colonialism. It must respect the diversity of cultures which, within the universal harmony of peoples, are life's interpretive keys. In particular, it must not deprive the poor of what remains most precious to them, including their religious beliefs and practices, since genuine religious convictions are the clearest manifestation of human freedom”.757John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (27 April 2001), 4: AAS 93 (2001), 600.
In the era of globalization solidarity between generations must be forcefully emphasized: “Formerly, in many places, solidarity between generations was a natural family attitude; it also became a duty of the community”.758John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (11 April 2002), 3: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 24 April 2002, p. 10. It is good that such solidarity continue to be pursued within national political communities, but today the problem exists also for the global political community, in order that globalization will not occur at the expense of the neediest and the weakest. Solidarity between generations requires that global planning take place according to the principle of the universal destination of goods, which makes it morally illicit and economically counterproductive to burden future generations with the costs involved: morally illicit because it would mean avoiding one's own responsibilities; economically counterproductive because correcting failures is more expensive than preventing them. This principle is to be applied above all — although not only — to the earth's resources and to safeguarding creation, the latter of which becomes a particularly delicate issue because of globalization, involving as it does the entire planet understood as a single ecosystem.759Cf. John Paul II, Address to members of the Italian Christian Workers' Associations (27 April 2002), 4: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 12 June 2002, p. 11.