[coldtea]

>I don't disagree, but I also don't think it's appropriate to say that globalization and free trade should be avoided just because they've harmed those communities - globalization just needs to occur alongside policy changes that offset the localized harm that it does.

Why does it "need to occur"?

For example eating local produce is better for the environment than eating stuff that has been transported for 1000s of miles, with the respective carbon footprint. And that's just an example from an environmental perspective.

[slavik81]

There is no local produce in winter. The only fruits and vegetables available would be those that could be be stored for months without spoilage. I'd be eating potatoes and corn for 8 months of the year.

We could grow just about anything indoors year-round, but it's much better for both the environment and my wallet to grow crops in places where we don't need to enclose, light and heat them.

[coldtea]

>There is no local produce in winter

Depends on the country -- and region of the country. There are countries that sport different climates and micro-climates. And there is stuff that thrives during the winter as well. And if it's really needed, we've had greenhouses for ages.

But that's part of the proposition: don't eat out of season stuff, even if it means changing the diet in an annual cycle (which, e.g. tons of Italians has no problem doing -- even if it means no, of much fewer tomatoes in winter).

[tpm]

And even that example does not have to be true. Carbon footprint of spanish tomatoes imported into the UK can be lower than of locally produced ones.

[coldtea]

Never lower than not eating them -- or not eating them out of season though. Or, in other words, with promoting self-sustenance.

[tfehring]

That sentence of my last comment may be unclear, so let me rephrase - to the extent that globalization occurs, it needs to coincide with policy changes that offset the localized harm that it would otherwise cause.

While this isn't the point I was attempting to make in the sentence that you quoted, I also tend to think that increased globalization should occur, at least at the margin. But to your point, there may be specific sectors in which globalization is harmful in net, and externalities do need to be considered.