Gbe Gloablist Vs Anti Globalist

1 Globalization

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world.

It is generally used to refer to economic globalization: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import quotas and the reduction of restrictions on the movement of capital and on investment.

2 Rise of Globalization

Many people associate Globalization with the emergence of multinational firms, the formation of trade blocs together with the increased amount of trade, investment (i.e. freer movement of goods and capital) and cultural exchange taking place between nations. However, these are the main effects of Globalization rather than its causes. Countries did not suddenly start trading more with each other, nor were multinationals created without reason.

The fall in transport costs is one of the main factors contributing to Globalization. Through improvements in technology, more cost efficient ways of travelling were invented over time. A very significant one among these factors was computerization and the increasing use of the internet that took place after the 1980s. The internet made distance a factor of low importance for communication, resulting in increased exchange of knowledge, ideas and culture among people which is a very fundamental part of Globalization. It also allowed people to view prices of, and order goods and services from all over the world. This contributed to Globalization and international trade a lot as a single world market with complete price transparency was created for many goods.

A second source of globalization has been trade liberalization and other forms of economic liberalization that have led to reduced trade protection and to a more liberal world trading system. This process started in the last century, but the two World Wars and the Great Depression interrupted it. It resumed after World War II through the most-favored-nation approach to trade liberalization, as embodied in the 1946 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and now in the World Trade Organization (WTO). As a result, there have been significant reductions in tariffs and other barriers to trade in goods and services.

After World War II most countries were in an economic mess. Governments were the only entities large enough to get economies repaired and moving again. For three decades after WW2 the government led economies worked reasonably well. However, the US monetary system had a problem left over from a 1930's