After all, as the saying goes, "the stone age did not end for the lack of stone." 8  III. Conclusion: the Changing Face of Globalization and Multilateral Engagement Up to now, I have discussed recent developments in the global economy and financial institutions.
The purpose of regulation is to build in safeguards against failure of financial institutions and financial markets. Financial firms such as banks are different from non-financial firms, and financial markets are different from non-financial markets. The important difference is that financial firms are all interconnected, and a disruption in any one part of the system spreads rapidly through the entire system.