The integration of national economies via trade, investment by multinational companies, and flows of financial capital is said to have changed the way the world works. Indeed, the economic and political consequences of economic globalization are hotly debated. Does economic globalization cause inequality, instability, unemployment, and environmental degradation? Or is it an engine of prosperity and wealth for the vast majority of the world's citizens? Does globalization pose a fundamental challenge to the policymaking autonomy of the nation-state? Or is there a positive role for national governments, individually and collectively?