ABSTRACT
Since the 1980s, a new round of economic globalisation which has been characterised by a free flow of financial factors has brought an overall prosperity to the global economy, but also intensified the damages wrought by economic crises and, simultaneously, aggravated the economic recession. Globalisation also leads to a series of complex social problems. Among those problems, the inequality of wealth is comparatively the most fundamental and conspicuous factor. On the one hand, during the period of economic prosperity, despite the increase of aggregated global wealth and the reduction in the extreme levels of poverty, the gaps within social distribution gradually widen. On the other hand, during the periods of economic crises and recession, in spite of a relative narrowing down of the gaps in social distribution, the aggregated social wealth is thanks to globalisation being reduced and the unemployment rates rising. Although different types of countries, such as developed countries, the newly emerging economies, and the low-income countries, differ in their performance, their overall economic and social developments are similar. Against the background of globalisation, a sluggish economic growth and widening of the wealth gap in Europe seem to be particularly 250outstanding. The reasons for this phenomenon are as follows: this round of globalisation has consolidated contradictions between highly liberalised capital flows and a relatively fixed labour force. As a result, the primary distribution of social wealth has brought more advantages to owners of capital and more disadvantages to the working class. At the same time, however, the social bias caused by globalisation further weakened the redistributive effects of the social security systems in the developed countries (particularly in Europe), while the relative lack of social security systems in the developing countries have aggravated the degrees of wealth inequality. In response to the wealth inequality brought about by globalisation, the anti-globalisation movements appear to be passive and ineffective, whereas the efforts made by the governments of a number of countries, particularly those in Europe, to reform the social security systems and to promote employment might have hit the nail on the head. Meanwhile, it seems to be ever more important to advance the coordination of global governance which is led by interrelated international organisations.
