Globalization Makes Society Better

Globalization benefits society as a whole because it expands markets, increases profits, creates new jobs and has also lifted people in poor countries out of poverty.

According to Robert O’ Brien and Marc Williams globalization in terms of liberalization is:

“the removal of restrictions to cross border flows, such as the elimination of trade or investment barriers” (O’Brien and Williams:27).

Globalization has also transformed the way the world is viewed today. As technology has improved the production of goods are made faster and cheaper as well as the transportation of goods. As you can see in the global division of labor, certain countries specialize in different things. For example, in the automotive industry, different parts are made in other countries like tires might be made in China, where the electronic components might be made in India and the assembly of the vehicle might be constructed in Mexico. This is done because either the product might be produced cheaper or in higher quality.

Even though globalization benefits society as a whole, it also has negative effects. According to Scheve and Slaughter the United States is becoming more protectionist because, workers in the manufacturing industry have lost their jobs due to free trade and technological advancements. Kenneth Scheve and Matthew Slaughter said

“The first is that a narrow set of industries, such as agriculture and apparel manufacturing have been harmed by freer trade and, in response, have lobbied hard to turn against liberalization” (Scheve and Slaughter 2007).

This argument is only made for the job loss in the manufacturing industry in the United States. In general, globalization has had many positive outcomes in the United States as well as in other develo...

... middle of paper ...

...nal governments enforce them? Drezner also argues that there is no evidence that corporations move to developing countries that have the lowest labor standards.

Even though that “race the bottom” has decreased labor wages across developing countries due to competition, it has come into conclusion that the workers that have worked under these conditions are satisfied with the wages they have earned. Drezner states that:

“A recent World Bank survey of 3,800 workers in 12 Nike factories in Thailand and Vietnam found that 72 percent of Thai workers were satisfied with their overall income levels, while a majority of Vietnamese workers preferred factory employment over lower wage jobs in their country’s agricultural sector” (Drezner:65).

If these worker’s in developing countries are benefiting from their wages, why is the free movement of trade and capital so dreadful?