Economic Globalization: Term Definition

Subject: Globalization
Pages: 2
Words: 333
Reading time:
2 min

An important area of globalization is economic globalization. This includes the integration of country economies in the world.

The globalists see this to be the perfect way of reducing poverty. They argue that developing countries need to open up to the world and attract investments for their economies to grow reducing poverty levels. China and India are given as examples where poverty has significantly reduced as a result of foreign investments.

The skeptics see several problems arising from this arrangement including the fact that multinational companies are likely to influence trade and implement policies that benefit themselves instead of helping the poor. Moreover, the poor are also likely to be exploited as providers of raw materials including labor as well as consumers of finished products.

For the skeptic, multinational companies are very likely to have great political power in developing countries since most of these countries have weak governments and a non-empowered population.

Non-democratic decisions made at forums of the World Trade Organization attest to the reality that multinational companies can take power from people in developing countries limiting the sovereignty of affected countries. On the other hand, the globalists argue that globalization comes with an empowered society, competition, and openness. They thinks that multinational companies are likely to face competition in a globalized world forcing them to adopt openness.

On the integration of culture which is inevitable in a globalized world of free travel and communication, the globalist sees this as a great way of empowering and educating people in developing countries.

Moreover, culture exchange can create a global culture that respects and integrates all cultures in the world something that will create a unified global community.

I tend to agree with the skeptics since cultural integration cannot genuinely occur because people are different. Some people are also likely to lose their identity in the process.