Globalization articles.doc.docx



DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #1:

Globalization in Mexico, Part 1: Economic and Social Effects (12.0/34)

Borgen Magazine April 26, 2013

Globalization is a hot topic these days. Mexico, the United States’ third largest trade partner, has served as the subject in a large-scale experiment on the effects of globalization over the last two decades. Mexico’s role as a globalization “testing ground” is due in large part to the fact that the country has opened its economy to the rest of the world.

Globalization in Mexico has had positive effects on the national economy. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Mexico loosened its trade restrictions, greatly reduced foreign taxes, and signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada. The Mexican government has been, for the most part, supportive of trade expansion and development within the country. Economic growth as a result of globalization and open trade in Mexico has certainly benefited Mexican business, industry and the wealthy. More factories and businesses have been built and more jobs are available due to this.

But it has not benefited all of the country’s citizens. According to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Mexican states that have had “high exposure” to globalization, particularly in northern Mexico, fared far better than more rural, less industrialized states in southern Mexico. In fact, in the 1990s, average labor earnings decreased by 10 percent in “low exposure” states relative to “high exposure” states.

Places that experienced the majority of the impacts of globalization in Mexico fared far better, economically, than those that did not. But states that were not directly affected by globalization, that is, did not gain the economic benefits of development and industrialization, but were still affected by government policies, rising prices, environmental pollution, and much more.

Prior to the opening of trade and globalization, the north and south regions were following a trend of incomes becoming equal. But globalization put an end to that: the report states, “The process of income equality came to a halt in 1985. As a result of globalization in Mexico, northern states have become wealthier while southern states have become poorer. The people in the south have experienced income decline, poverty, and forced migration.

In an ideal world, economic policies would serve to assist the most vulnerable populations, for the benefit of all. But unsustainable systems that increase inequality while undermining effective traditional lifestyles are unlikely to change until global leaders begin to prioritize people over profits.

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #2

Essential Economics: Globalization and the British Economy (12.0/30.7)

1. Sustained economic growth: Over the last twelve years the UK has enjoyed a period of sustained economic growth, rising employment and improving living standards. Our growth has been very close to the trend rate of 2.5% per annum and this is one of the longest sustained growth phases in our post-war history. Rising levels of trade and investment spurred on by the challenges of international competition have contributed to this healthy growth picture.

2. Rising productivity: The expansion of multinational businesses locating in the UK has helped to raise productivity and efficiency in the economy; this in turn makes the UK more money.

3. The terms of trade argument (important) - Due the current wave of globalization, the terms of trade have moved in the UK ’s favour. For example our economy is moving further and further towards the production and sale of high value manufacturing and high-knowledge services which tend to command in global markets a price higher than the cost of importing cheaper manufactured goods e.g. household products. Put simply, we can import many of the things that we need fairly cheaply and sell a smaller volume of higher priced products.

4. Labour migration opportunities: Globalization is also being linked with a rising scale of international labour migration – and there are many who see this as a potential benefit for the British economy, not least in reducing the problems of skilled labour shortages in our public services, construction and other industries suffering from scarce workers.

Essential Economics: Globalization and the British Economy

1. Loss of jobs in manufacturing and service industry : Globalization has intensified the problems facing UK manufacturing businesses. In many traditional industrial heartlands, rising imports and a switch of manufacturing to lower-cost production centres in South-east Asia and Eastern Europe has caused many thousands of lost jobs. Also, Outsourcing services to low labour cost countries e.g. call-centres to India is a loss of jobs to the UK, Again the argument is about a loss of employment, but also that pressures to out-source may cause businesses to drive down real pay levels in UK service sectors in order to compete more effectively

2. Fears about the effect of globalization and the environmental consequences : E.g. the extent to which the huge growth of international air and sea freight transport, the switch of manufacturing to countries who emit more pollution per capita and the ever rising scale of household and industrial waste leads to enormous external costs and a threat to the long term viability of our scarce environmental resources

3. Globalization and income & wealth inequality: Globalization is accentuating the great divide between the haves and the have-nots. The real pay of people at the bottom of the pay ladder has barely increased in the last ten years whereas the incomes and accumulated wealth of those in the richest 20% or 40% of the population has increased significantly.

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #3:

Health implications of globalization in Thailand (11.2/ 38.4)

Bull World Health Organ. 2001; 79(9): 889–890.

In recent years Thailand’s economy has become more and more dependent on international forces. Globalization has caused advances in health care technology and improvements in living standards. Private hospital beds increased from 8066 in 1982 to 21,297 in 1992 and 34,973 in 1996. The number of specialized doctors in private hospitals increased. The culture of free business and trade brought with it an enlarged middle class, insurance coverage for hospitalization, tax incentives for private health care and heavy investment in advanced health technology. Due to globalization, many people have become healthier and lived longer because of the improved health care.

However, perhaps the most important direct effect of globalization on health in Thailand is unequal access to medical care by different social groups. The rise in imported sophisticated technologies has increased costs and needs new training; which poorer areas of the country cannot afford. Unequal access to care was reflected by unequal health status. For example, infant mortality (deaths) in the poorest regions was twice as high as in the richest ones.

Second, there are increasing problems of environmental pollution. These include inadequate treatment of raw sewage (for instance, in tourist areas), and the notorious air pollution in Bangkok and other big cities. Environmental decline and disruption of the ecosystem have led to frequent floods and changes in diseases..

Third, concerns about new infections and the reappearance of old ones have been on the rise. International trade and travel are shaping the patterns of epidemics. The plague scare in India had worldwide effects. The nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia caused concerns in Thailand. Cholera epidemics can inflict enormous costs on a country. The costs associated with controlling HIV infection continue to rise. Fears of foot and mouth disease have affected meat consumption.

Fourth, globalization has brought with it unhealthy lifestyles. Health has been damaged by the promotion of fashionable drugs, foods and other consumer products such as tobacco and alcohol

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #4:

Globalization and culture in Africa (11.5/ 45.6)

Effects of globalization in all aspects of human life across the world are visible, especially on our rich traditional and cultural norms and values. Our lives and ways of living are no longer what they used to be centuries ago, when people hardly travelled beyond their immediate environment or settlements, opposite to the current trend as exhibited in mass migration both internal and external.

Globalization has made the world became a thin global village. We don’t have to go that far to see globalization and its impacts on our lives. Our lives have now been flooded with the introduction of different products and services; ranging from computers, laptops, micro phones, mobile phones, wireless internet connections and so on, all of which help in the rapid development of our lives.

However, we must acknowledge that everything on this planet has positive and negative effects and globalization is not an exception to this reality. As we speak about its importance, we must also not lose sight of its side effects, especially where our traditional and cultural norms and values are concerned.

We must appreciate the speed and scope that globalization has affected countries around the world. Its impact is felt and affects almost everything we do and say in this world.  Globalization promotes contact and exchanges between cultures and encourages new ideas. It creates tolerance and understanding of different cultures and spreads customs, religions, languages, fashion, music, etc.

Also, fast industrialization and fast migrations are evidences of globalization. People can travel thousands of miles within minutes and hours opposed to when people used to travel on either foot or other slow methods to far distance places.

However, there is another side of the globalization of cultures. Gambia, like other African countries, has rich traditional cultural values, but with the world coming together as one big village, with such a speed and scope, things are no longer what they used to be as far as promotion, protection and preservation of the cherished culture. Traditional culture is lost to the expanding modern world.

Globalization has taken away many traditional values and customs. It has made them seem outdated and unimportant. It has a caused an attitude change in youths towards the countries’ development. This is a contrast to the way an ideal Gambian or African child is brought up and prepared to take his or her rightful place in supporting the welfare of the family, community and nation at large. The short skirts, high shoes and other unusual forms of dresses are not part of the Gambian culture. The music and food in Gambia is also changing. Globalization is causing the traditional Gambian culture to disappear and making it very similar to other cultures. The uniqueness of culture is disappearing.

   

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #5:

Globalization: The Challenge to America (11.0/49.9)

Upfront Magazine

For so many years, America’s economy was so dominant on the world stage that we fell into the habit of thinking we were competing largely against ourselves. If we fell behind in one area or another-whether it was math and science skills, broadband capacity, or wireless infrastructure-we took the view that: oh well, we’ll fix that problem when we get to it. After all, we’re just competing against ourselves.”

In recent years, though, with the leveling of the global playing field, it should be apparent that we are not just competing against ourselves. The opening up of countries like India, China, and Russia mean that their young people can plug and play-connect, collaborate, and compete-more easily and cheaply than ever before. And they are. However, we are still coasting as if we have all the time in the world. “Today the most profound thing to me is the fact that a 14 year old in Romania or Bangalore or the (former) Soviet Union or Vietnam has all the information, all the tools, all the software easily available to apply knowledge however they want, “ says marc Andreesen, a co founder of Netsacape and the creator of the first internet browser.

In the 1990s some 3 billion people who had been out of the global economic game came into the playing field because of technologies such as the internet-the people of China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Central Asia. No country has benefitted more from the changes than India and China. “India had no resources and no infrastructure,” says Dinakar Singh, a wall street executive whose parents earned doctorates in India before moving to America. “For decades, you had to leave India to be a professional. Now you can just plug into the world from India.” Also, China now supplies as much as 70% of the merchandise sold by Arkansas based Wal-Mart. But what China really wants is that the next generation of products not just be “made in China” but also “designed in China”. The same goes for India.

Rajesh Rao, a video-game entrepreneur from Bangalore, suggests that instead of complaining about outsourcing, Americans and Western Europeans “would be better off thinking about how you can….raise yourself into doing something better. Americans whining-we have never seen that before.” Three gaps now plague America. The first is the “ambition gap”. Compared to young Indians and Chinese, too many Americans have become lazy. We also have a “numbers gap”-we are not producing enough engineers and scientists. And finally , we are developing an “education gap.” Bill Gates is concerned about high school education in America. “When I compare our high schools to what I see when I’m traveling abroad, I am terrified for our work force of tomorrow. By 12th grade US students are scoring near the bottom of all industrialized nations (in math and science). In the international competition to have the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling behind. And now more than ever, Americans have to realize that jobs are not secure and there are people all over the world competing for those jobs.

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #6:

The Double Edge of Globalization (12)

Yale Global, June 28, 2007 Nayan Chanda

Globalization stands accused of destroying the global environment. Expanding trade driven by globalization has brought about increased fishing, destruction of forestland, and the spread of polluting industries to the developing world. In a November 2005 report, the United Nations reported that each year about 18 million acres of the world's forests - an area the size of Panama or Sierra Leone - are lost due to deforestation. 

Serious critics of globalization acknowledge that deforestation (logging) cannot be attributed to globalization alone. But they rightly point out that globalization does serve as an accelerator for many of the forces that cause the loss of forests worldwide. 

By encouraging trade, globalization encourages the increased purchase and use of goods, which leads to more logging worldwide. Governments at both local and global levels have failed to promote conservation and reforestation. 

China is a perfect example. A major beneficiary of globalization as the world's factory, China increasingly turns to other countries to meet its increasingly growing need for food. That is good news for Brazilian farmers who want to cash in on China's growing demand for soybeans: The environmental organization Greenpeace estimates that more than 2.5 million acres of tropical forest have been cleared in recent years to plant soybeans. Greenpeace also claims that there is "a 7,000 mile chain that starts with the clearing of forest by farmers and leads directly to chicken nuggets being sold in British and European fast food restaurants".

China's extremely fast economic growth, supplying cheap products to the world, has other costs, too. Increased burning of coal and use of chemicals to fuel the export machine pollute not only China's air and water but the world's environment as well. A 2004 study found that the wind dispersed chemicals like mercury, released by factories in China, to locations thousands of miles away. A researcher traced a collection of dirty air from Asia to New England, where analysis of collected samples revealed the chemicals had originated in China.

As world trade grows and millions of factories join the global supply chain, as mines are over-used and timber is cut down to meet rising consumer demands, increased pollution is often the price. Pollution hits the originating country first, contaminating its soil and water, but soon is absorbed in the atmosphere, where it becomes a global problem - poisoning the air and bringing acid rain to other parts of the world. 

Life in every country today is so intertwined with the rest of the world that failure to appreciate this interdependence and its long-term effects could risk the world's moving toward a major crisis. Although no one is in charge of globalization, history shows that political power can channel or obstruct the many currents that feed globalization, and lead to a change in course.

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #7:

Globalization Promotes Cultural Diversity (11)

Globalization 2010 Michael Lynton

In the summer of 2007, my studio's Spider-Man 3 became one of the biggest movies of all time, thanks to its world-wide "web" of box-office success, so it may seem strange for me to say this. But I believe that the global economy in general—and the entertainment business in particular—is absolutely not turning the world into an American shopping mall.

Instead of creating a single, boring global village, the forces of globalization are actually encouraging the proliferation of cultural diversity. Prominent critics like New York Times political and economics columnist Thomas Friedman disagree. In The Lexus and the Olive Tree he argued that globalization "has its own dominant culture, which is why it tends to be homogenizing.... Culturally speaking, globalization is largely, though not entirely, the spread of Americanization—from Big Macs to iMacs to Mickey Mouse—on a global scale."

Yes, it is true that certain products have worldwide reach and appeal. But it is not true that local culture is destroyed in the process. Consider that from Germany and France to India and Japan, more than half the movie box office is made up of films produced in those lands, in their own languages.

People everywhere like Spider-Man or Disney's Jack Sparrow. A recent Pew poll discovered a "strong appetite" for American cultural exports. But citizens of other countries also like their own heroes and villains, actors and directors. They want to see stories, stars and issues that relate to their own societies and are portrayed and examined in their own languages.

That's why, in recent years, we have seen an explosion of creativity from outside Hollywood. In response to such clear preferences on the part of audiences throughout the world, several major Hollywood studios have created and expanded local-language film production businesses. Our studio is working with directors and actors in China, India, Mexico, Spain and Russia to make movies for release in each of those markets and, on occasion, internationally as well.

So if what can be seen in the cinemas from Bangalore to Barcelona these days is any indication, globalization does not mean homogeneity. It means heterogeneity. Instead of one voice, there are many. Instead of fewer choices, there are more. And instead of a uniform, Americanized world, there remains a rich and dizzying array of cultures, all of them allowing thousands of movies and television shows to bloom. Audiences around the world are applauding this explosion of homegrown content, because for them, Hollywood is not simply a place in Southern California. It is a symbol of an entertainment culture, which is becoming as diverse as it is universal.

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE #8:

Globalization Isn’t Dead, It’s Only Just Beginning (10)

Time Michael Schuman Nov. 19, 2013

There’s been a lot of talk these days that globalization is dead, even reversing — and for good reason. It seems that many of the factors that had been driving globalization have run out of steam. The growth of trade, which has long outpaced the expansion of the world economy, has slowed in recent years. Evolving technology is altering the manufacturing industry and convincing some U.S. firms to shorten supply lines and even return factory work back to America making production more local and less global.

But ignore the naysayers: globalization is very much alive and well. More importantly, though, globalization is changing in key ways. It is knitting together a society that, more than ever, is truly global. In the past, globalization was to a great degree a one-way street — from the developed to the developing world. Money and technology flowed from the U.S. and Europe into China, India and other low-income countries, drawing them into the global trading system. The process was the same with ideas (democracy, capitalism) and culture (popular music, social networking, fast food, Hollywood movies). Emerging nations had few connections between themselves, and limited influence over world politics and finance.

Now, though, the rise of China, India and other emerging economies is shifting that old, one-way globalization into a new, vibrant multilateral globalization, with major consequences for how our world works. Look at what’s happening in the global economy these days. The giant populations of China, India and Indonesia were participating in the world economy mainly as workers; they had meager economic power in their own right. Not anymore.

More than half of humanity now lives in South and East Asia, and Chinese and Indian consumers have become the most sought after in the world. Global commerce is changing as a result. General Motors, for instance, sells more cars in China than in America; Yum! Brands cooks up more Kentucky Fried Chicken for Chinese diners than Americans. Hotels and travel agencies from Paris to Bali are striving to accommodate Chinese and Indian tourists. The storied design houses of Europe have opened lavish flagship stores in Asia, which is set to account for more than half of the world’s luxury-goods market within the next 10 years.

Similarly, culture is becoming increasingly globalized as well. How else can you explain grammar-school kids in the Boston suburbs dancing to a song in Korean performed by a guy named Psy? Or young people in Seattle or Denver driving to anime conventions in their Hyundais and comparing notes over dim sum afterward? Hundreds of Confucius Institutes promoting Chinese language and culture have popped up around the world. Bollywood flicks and Korean soap operas are wildly popular around Asia.

All of these trends are set to continue. Companies you’ve probably never heard of before might one day offer you a job; what the central bank of India does will impact your stock portfolio; your kids will be downloading music and movies from every corner of the world if they don’t already. Globalization is deepening, becoming more inclusive and more balanced between different parts of the planet. And it is introducing us all to new ideas, products and arts. Globalization is not just still with us; it’s just getting started.

DEBATE QUESTION: DOES GLOBALIZATION HAVE A MORE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD?

RESOURCE: Homework Article

Is globalization a good or bad thing? (12/41.2)

|Supporters of globalization say that it helps developing nations "catch up" to industrialized nations much faster through increased employment and technological|

|advances. Asian economies are often highlighted as examples of globalization's success. Critics of globalization say that it weakens independence and allows |

|rich nations to ship jobs overseas where labor is much cheaper. |

|What is the real story on globalization? It largely depends on your personal perspective. 
 |

|The View From The Penthouse 
For business leaders and members of the economic elite, globalization is good. Cheaper labor overseas enables them to build |

|factories in locations where labor and health care costs are low, and then sell the finished goods in locations where wages are high. Profits soar and Wall |

|Street rewards big profits with higher stock prices. Investors and wealthy individuals also take home more money when stock prices increase. |

|The View From the Street 
But globalization doesn't only affect rich individuals. From technology call centers in India to automobile manufacturing plants in |

|China, globalization means that US middle class workers must compete with job applicants from around the world. 

In these outsourcing cases manufacturers |

|expect U.S. consumers to continue buying products at U.S. prices but many factory and service workers and middle class workers lose their jobs due to the |

|outsourcing of the factories. |

|While critics of globalization decry the loss of jobs that globalization can entail for developed countries, those who support globalization argue that the |

|employment and technology that is brought to developing countries helps those populations toward industrialization and the possibility of increased standards of|

|living. 

 |

|The View From The Middle Ground 
In the globalization debate, outsourcing is a double-edged sword. 

On the one hand, low wages in foreign countries enable |

|retailers to sell clothing, cars and other goods at reduced rates in Western nations where shopping has become an ingrained part of the culture. This allows |

|companies to increase their profits. 

At the same time, shoppers save money when they buy these goods, causing some supporters of globalization to argue that |

|while sending jobs overseas tends to lower wages or decrease jobs, it may also lower prices at the same time. 

 |

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