The International Labor Organization issued a report card on globalization in February. The study by a high-level ILO commission said that, while globalization has resulted in economic growth and moved hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, it has also failed to solve all the world’s economic problems, and has exacerbated income disparities both between and within nations.

USCIB President Thomas M.T. Niles welcomed the February report as a timely addition to the debate over global economic integration. But he said that some of the paper’s conclusions appeared simplistic and would need to be fully debated by ILO members before any policy recommendations were adopted.

"The ILO report is a compromise document that, by its very nature, contains analysis and recommendation with which we disagree," said Mr. Niles. "This should not detract from its importance or timeliness. But we do question some of the report’s critique of globalization, and we believe its policy recommendations require further discussion."

The ILO report, entitled "A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All," was issued by the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, chaired by President Tarja Halonen of Finland and President Benjamin William Mkapa of Tanzania. It was released in February at a press conference in London.

The report hails "the potential of the global economy for good." But it criticizes efforts to alleviate poverty as inadequate and says globalization’s "volatility threatens both rich and poor." The Commission’s diverse policy prescriptions include better governance, increased development assistance, more transparency in international trade rules and wider adherence to core international labor standards.

"These are broad goals that U.S. business can gladly endorse," according to Mr. Niles. "But we question the report’s critique of globalization’s failures, and we wonder whether some of its policy prescriptions make sense. Specific recommendations must still be addressed within the ILO itself."

U.S. business contributed indirectly to the development of the ILO report, and two international employer representatives sat on the World Commission that developed it. But the bulk of Commission members came from government, trade unions and academia. Mr. Niles said the report would be on the agenda at the meeting of the ILO Governing Body in early March as well as at the ILO’s annual conference in June.