bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1990), p. 43
Governments and Corporations in a
Shrinking World, by Sylvia Ostry. Pub-
lished by the Council of Foreign Relations
Press, New York, 1990. 123 pp. $15.00.
Globalization’s
A buzzword you use
When you want to impress –
But you’ll likely confuse.
For most of the pundits
Who’ve written a lot,
On this issue have issued
A whole lot of rot.
Not Sylvia Ostry
Our ex Deputy Min,
Who has chronicled changes
Both thicker and thin.
She traces the issues
From trade to high-tech,
She examines convergence
(A pain in the neck).
Competition she says
Is no longer of goods,
But of systems and programs
(We’re still in the woods).
With powers dispersed
Within the U.S.,
She examines how Congress
Makes trade talks a mess.
She outlines relations
With unscrupled Japan,
LDP, Ministries and
Famed Keidenran.
She then turns to Europe.
(Where convergence is staged),
And business is wary
Of getting engaged.
In fact the old leaders
of Europe’s great houses,
Now pushed to the forefront
By American spouses.
The best chapter of all
(In my view) is the third,
Her look at High-Tech,
Is quite far from absurd.
This is welcome in light
Of snake-salesmen so many,
Who suggest a quick fix
By the fed’s dwindling penny,
She examines where theories
Of macro-convergence,
Collapse when applied to
Innovation emergence.
The US thrashes about like
Some bumbling templar,
Now Europe tries mining
Japan’s perfect exemplar.
The greatest domain where
This comes home to roost,
Is in info technologies
Who all try a boost.
Her picture I fear is
Not one to relax us,
Here north of the border
We’ve no hope of praxis.
In the end yet she tells us
“Aside set your fears,
As faith you must put
In the multilateral gears.
“To examine some issues
Use the O-E-C-D,
Such as theories convergent
And corps. truly free.”
She explains that we shouldn’t
Go from GATT round to round,
That systems more seamless
Just ought to be found.
This is not really likely
She correctly surmises,
So get ready for new talks
Or face ugly surprises.
When following Uruguay
We all look for a change,
To focus on services
To a GATS we should range.
To business she preaches
“Don’t leave it to us
In government circles —
Instead, make a fuss.
“You have a big stake
And a role influential,
A global round table
Would be most prudential.”
As I was supposed
To quite sharply review,
I should point out the failings
Even if but a few.
The triad she feels
Demands all our attention,
Mid-powers like Canada
Are not worth a mention.
Yet she does recognize
That four tigers emergent,
Pose challenges complex
For focus quite urgent.
If politics loom smaller
Than seems right — Please remember,
She wrote this whole study
Some time last December.
In the end I must say
This is quite a read,
Not sexy, not snappy
But still fills a need.
And best of it all
Its greatest capacity —
Is to herald our Sylvia’s
Unchanged perspicacity.
(With apologies to Sylvia, to poets everywhere, and to my four small children with whom I spend summers reading vastly superior doggerel. If the above extraordinary work of art does not tell you much about the book, all the better — this is a book worth reading, not cheating on through reviews of any sort.)
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1990), p. 43. Read the rest of this issue →
