ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with questions of New Zealand's economic sovereignty in a globalized world. It looks at how well integrated New Zealand is into the world economy. The chapter then reviews the arguments and literature addressing how globalization might impinge on nations' economic sovereignty and asks what lessons can be drawn for New Zealand. The argument that internationally mobile capital undermines economic sovereignty is that states lose the ability to levy taxes on capital (or capital-intensive industries), as that will drive foreign direct investment (FDI) offshore. The chapter argues that economic globalization today is very different to that of earlier times, despite some apparent similarities in aggregate statistics, and that this can be attributed, in substantial part, to policy choices of nations. It suggests that New Zealand's interests are served well by international institutions such as the WTO and that any solutions to the perceived problems of globalization are most likely found in further globalization, not less.
