---
title: "Globalization has failed"
claim_id: "rP6ScJsfa2hP7Lrm3nIF"
validity: 20
model: accounts/fireworks/models/kimi-k2p6
---

# Claim: Globalization has failed

Verdict: 20%
Model: Kimi K2.6
Checked on: 14/05/2026

## Verdict explanation

- The claim "globalization has failed" is a recent political talking point explicitly made by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who called it "a failed policy" at the World Economic Forum in January 2026[^1][^2]
- However, macroeconomic evidence strongly contradicts this broad assertion: U.S. real GDP per capita rose substantially from 1990 to 2024 during the advance of globalization, and America retained its share of world output and its industrial base in value terms[^3]
- The World Bank has identified that the number of people living on less than $1 per day decreased by an estimated 200 million since the 1980s, demonstrating significant global poverty reduction linked to increased trade[^4]
- Economic research shows most Americans have done better over recent decades, with no evidence supporting a narrative of national economic decline or that the middle class was hollowed out by global commerce[^5]
- Despite rhetoric suggesting America has stopped offshoring, approximately 300,000 U.S. jobs are still outsourced annually and 66% of U.S. businesses continue to outsource at least one department, indicating that globalized economic integration remains deeply embedded[^6]
- While specific communities and workers faced legitimate negative impacts from trade competition and automation, these distributional challenges do not constitute evidence that globalization itself has failed as a broad economic phenomenon[^3][^5]

**Overall validity**: 20%

[^1]:
    [Secretary Lutnick said that globalization is a failed policy](/claim/gUg5UwEVbWFeYU4DpckD)

[^2]:
    [Secretary Lutnick said that globalization has left America behind](/claim/faVldaZG4RnMd0r55182)

[^3]:
    [Did Globalisation Hurt the US Economy?](https://rbaldwin.substack.com/p/did-globalisation-hurt-the-us-economy)

[^4]:
    [\[PDF\] WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF GLOBALIZATION ON ECONOMIC ...](https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/a116d29e-bcc4-41ca-9f9b-a3321438fdb9/1/Nguyen2023Globalisation.pdf)

[^5]:
    [Globalization Hasn't Failed America, Politicians Have - Cato Institute](https://www.cato.org/blog/globalization-hasnt-failed-america-politicians-have)

[^6]:
    [America is done exporting jobs and offshoring its future](/claim/zRbPmK9bhGOtcp27O4dE)

## Sources using this claim (1)

- [Globalization has FAILED. Secretary Lutnick at the World Economic Forum: "The Trump Administration a…](/source/x:CommerceGov:2013638111977222213) — Unknown — 15 views