Often enough, we all continue to buy into the perceived need for globalization. Yet the benefits of globalization are much more limited than many of us acknowledge. For services, I stand a proponent of globalization and globalized economies of scale as costs are cut and local wages raised. Yet in products, specifically disposable products the likes of food and linens, localization can provide an increased benefit in cost, quality, and timeliness.

Two areas of focus on movement from globalization to policies promoting localization of certain goods were shared by Helena Norberg-Hodge. First, shift taxes from employment onto energy use and pollution. Perhaps better known as Pigouvian taxation, this method encourages businesses to make choices based on the population they serve rather than purely on profits (numbers) alone. As we see with GDP figures, numbers alone can be flawed, which leads to her second point of  “new indicators that genuinely measure progress.”

In watching the rise and fall of GDP to make decisions, policymakers overlook that sickness and pollution, two factors that increase pharmaceutical sales and healthcare needs, raise GDP but negatively impact the well-being of society. They look on an increase in bad as a good, simply because GDP increases collectively. Something seems backwards and implementation of new standards that focus on a shift toward selective localization may present a boom in our society for the better.