Globalization. Arguments for and against.

Globalization is currently one of the most fiercely debated topics in the world. Strong advocates for it as well as against it can be found sitting at the table at a family dinner as well as public TV debates. Most respected and prestigeous economists in the world argue over the benefits and costs of this movement daily.

In simple terms, globalization can be defined as increasing world- wide integriton of markets for goods, services and capital. The world is becoming smaller, as transportation has become much quicker and more accessible to the society. Companies can be ran from another hemisphere via phones or video conferences. Corporations are expanding, and are recognized in every part of the world, example being McDonalds or Coca- Cola. At a first glance globalization appears to majority of people asked as something beneficial, with hardly any consequences. Fact is, there are many benefits to globalization, however there are also negative aspects of it. Both of the sides of the argument are presented below, starting with the "pros"

The arguments for globalization include:

• Easier access to information/ news.
  
• It is specially beneficial for scientists who can easily and quickly communicate their ideas to each other. This can icrease the speed of economic development.
• Foreign direct investment may provides stimulus for countries that it is aimed at. This can be beneficial for developing nations seeking economic growth.
• Globalization promotes competition. Competition provides the incentive to be innovative, and to lower your cost in order to reduce the price. This can be seen as a big advantage for cosumers.
• There is certainly more products available for the consumer, as countries trade with each other much more openly.
• Globalization (in pair with free trade) promotes specialization in production of goods for which the country has a comparative advantage in producing, hence it promotes efficient production.
• Globalization helps integrate cultures from all over the world.
• It can be the driving force behind political reforms in countries.
• In allows the world together to help overcome future obsticles, such as global warming
  

As good as it sounds, globalization has its flaws.

• Globalization tends to draw power away from countries towards corporations. This can be particurarily dangerous, as countries/ governments have peoples interest as a first priority, whereas a multinational corporation has one goal, and that is profit maximazation, unfortunetly often at the epxense of exploiting the FoP's and mostly cheap labour.
• Contrary to intuition, globalization (a long with free trade which is not actually free trade due to tariffs and subsidies in developed countries) is actually increasing the gap between the developed western world, and the developing rest of the world.
• Many international organizations give advice that could work in a developed country, however it may not always be the best solution for a developing nation.
• Cultural sovereignty is being lost.
• Lack of more strict legislation advocating human rights often leads to exploiting of workers in developing nations.
• Lack of more strict legislation can also lead to developing countries being flooded with dumping activity to kill off any local competition, and dominate the market in that country, leaving local producers hopeless, which is nothing short of just barbarian.
• Free migration of labour in for example the EU may lead to some social unrest.

These are not all benefits, and not all costs of globalization, however they do provide a good genereal basis for discussion as to the lasting effect of globalization. What is important to remember, is that globalization is not a decision to be made. The decision has already been made, and with such rapid evolvement of technology it possibly cannot be stop. The best idea would then be to cherrish the benefits of globalization, and familiarize society with the consequences of it, so that the "cons" of globalization can be eliminated or at least reduced to a large extent.