Is the spread of prosperity in the interests of citizens of today's high-income countries? Is globalisation of their economies in their interest?

These distinct questions are raised in my mind by two important columns from Lawrence Summers ( "America needs to make a new case for trade" on April 27 and "A strategy to promote healthy globalisation" on May 4). In these, Mr Summers argues that the international economic policies of the US need to be coupled more closely to the interests of its workers. Many Europeans will concur.