Discuss the Extent to Which Globalization Is of Benefit to the Uk Economy

“Discuss the extent to which globalization is of benefit to the UK economy. [20 marks]”

Globalisation is the process by which the world is made ‘smaller’, due to growing integration and interdependency of national and local economies across the world. Increased international trade in goods and services and cross border investment has led to a more interconnected world. Through the progression of globalisation, especially in the last few decades with transport/travel improvements, the spread of ideas and education as well as products has grown enormously. This has contributed to the creation of a more people who can become more forward thinking and well informed of worldly ideas.

For the UK especially this has made a difference in recent months as we have seen with the steadily increasing (STATS) number of migrants seeking to enter the country. Globalisation is incredibly important to the international economies as it provides a means for international trade.

Globalisation for the consumer can be extremely positive as it provides goods straight to their door from all across the world. It means customers have access to the variety of goods they are used to seeing in an international city ← PHRASING. Globalisation furthermore, promotes specialisation, as countries are no longer forced to produce goods they do not excel at producing; meaning countries can perform in what they choose to. It also means a greater quality product is being provided when it comes from an economy which will typically have specialised in that good.

Furthermore, in opening the market up to supply from various suppliers you create an opportunity for competition, a race for customers. This often leads to price drop and/or extra services provided in order to make their product seem more reasonable.

However, with the free movement of goods and services occurring there is a vast amount more transport taking place obviously leading to increased carbon emissions, leading to greatly detrimental long-term effects for the environment and our planet. DON’T BE SO EMOTIVE. Furthermore, with increased availability of products from overseas, local producers will surely suffer in the UK as they will be unable to compete with the low prices of foreign companies (e.g. Chinese) due to the much higher cost of labour in the UK. This means that the UK lacks the comparative advantage, which will then restrict and limit GDP growth.

Having globalisation for a freer movement of products is therefore generally good for the consumer as it increases availability and lowers prices for similar quality products. However, it is damaging for domestic suppliers who cannot keep up with low prices coming from overseas.

The flip side of this is the constant international flow of money that capital can now spread globally. This allows for a constant stream