%0 Book %A Garrett, Geoffrey. %T Globalization's Missing Middle %X The article discusses the debate over the effects of free trade and reasons that globalization squeezes the middle class. Boosters of globalization assert that it is a win-win proposition for the rich and the poor, developed and developing countries alike. But critics see a small global elite lining its pockets at the expense of everyone else. All this good-versus-evil rhetoric obscures one key fact: while globalization has benefited many, it has squeezed the middle class, both within societies and in the international system. In today's global markets, there are only two ways to get ahead. Peoples and countries must be competitive in either the knoeledge economy, which rewards skills and institutions that promote cutting-edge technology to do routine tasks at the lowest possible cost.