We Have Proof that Globalization Does Help the Poor

While the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in club football, globalization is helping poorer nations catch up on the international level.

That is the conclusion of a study conducted by a World Bank economist, who apparently found this to be a more important subject to study then, say, world hunger or Third World poverty.

In an article in the latest Review of International Political Economy (a bit of a disappointing issue compared to last month’s if you ask me), Branko Milanovic comes to the conclusion that the global movement of players has helped the national teams of poorer countries.

Milanovic maintains that when a player like Didier Drogba returns home from Chelsea, his Cote d’Ivoire teammates gain from his experience. According to the Guardian:

Using basic economic theory, Milanovic came up with the hypothesis that putting a good player with other good players would lead to all of them becoming even better players - or increasing returns, in the jargon of the dismal science.

Duh. Milanovic and the World Bank could have saved a lot of time by simply asking anyone who has ever played sports whether it helps to play with better players. But if he did that, he would have to spend his time studying something superfluous like global poverty or the impact of disease on poor countries.