Transcript The Costs and Benefits of Globalization

The Costs and Benefits of
Globalization
Do the benefits outweigh the
cost?
Main Players in the Globalization
Debate
• Four types of organizations play key roles:
– International organizations
• WTO, UN, World Bank, IMF
– Non-governmental organizations
• World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club
– Multinational corporations
• McDonalds, Goggle
– Sovereign nation-states
• United States, G 8
• The IMF and foreign debt
– Policy of debt forgiveness?
• Globalization Index
– Large capital flows through trade and investment; higher on the index
• 2009 – Belgium vs West Bank and Gaza
Globalization Helped or Hindered
Economic Develop?
• Economic Development: the process by which
nations increase their economic output and
improve their citizen’s lives
• WTO and World Bank classifications
– Based on GDP
• Developed, developing, and least developed
• UN uses the HDI (Human Development Index)
– Life expectancy, education, and standard of living
• 1/6th in extreme poverty
– Living on less than $1.25 a day
Globalization Helped or Hurt the
Environment?
• World-wide industrialization
– Strain on natural resources, exploitation by
multinational corporations
• Protection of the resources
– May solve problems like climate
change/endangered species through
international cooperation
Does Globalization Enrich or
Threaten Local Cultures?
• The threat of Americanization?
– Western ideas and products overwhelm local
communities and cultures
• Enrichment of cultures?
– New ideas, technologies, foods, arts
– Multinational corporations adapt products and
business practices to conform to local
traditions