OPINION “If governments retain part ownership of banks it won’t take long until we see how political interests begin to influence the distribution of credit”, pro-globalist author Johan Norberg writes.

Two years ago the world’s richest man was American, the biggest car producer was American and the biggest bank American. A year later the world’s richest man was Mexican, the biggest car producer was Japanese and the biggest bank Chinese.

Something is changing around the world and it’s about time. The reason why the West has been so far ahead traditionally is that its individuals and entrepreneurs have experienced much greater freedoms and opportunities. That has changed with liberalization and globalization. Now capital and technology can find talent wherever it is hiding. That is one reason why around 50 000 people have been lifted out of extreme poverty every day, the last 25 years.

That is a wonderful development, but it is also frightening to many westerners, especially as some of the new, growing capitalist economies, like China, don’t share our ideals about democracy and human rights. They are now trying to find their identity and position in the new world order. Is there a risk that their growth will come at the expense of not just our jobs, but also our ideals?

Just think of the anxiety that has been expressed in the last decade about the large numbers in the East. You’ve heard it before: The US graduates 70 000 engineers every year, India 350,000 and China 600,000.

As usual, we exaggerate changes in the short term changes. The often quoted figures include students who get diplomas in simple technical tasks after a two- or three-year program. If we exclude those, and auto mechanics and repairmen who are classified as engineers, we would have to reduce the Indian and Chinese numbers by perhaps two thirds. Higher education is still very poor and only a tiny elite gets the skills needed to compete globally.

Businesses – and some politicians – in Asia still complain about the lack of creativity, curiosity and entrepreneurship in the workforce. They have been excellent at putting people to work in routine tasks in manufacturing, but they have been much less successful in stimulating innovation, which is the next necessary step for their economies.