| babelfish |
 Verfasst am: 09. Mai 2007 17:15 Titel: globalization - correction |
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It would be nice if someone could skim over the text and correct it... 
| Zitat: | In the last decades a process called „globalization“ became more and more important for each society. Economic globalization leads to the increasing interdependence and integration of national economies through trade and investment around the world. According to that process several problems but also benefits arise.
If we examine the pros and cons of globalization we always have to distinguish for whom there is the advantage – does globalization bring prosperity to all people or do just the companies of developed countries profit by that process?
Most Western societies follow neo-liberal policies which means that the governments try to have as little influence on the economy as possible, leaving it determined by market forces. As a consequence state-owned enterprises (e.g. water, power) get privatized, social services were cut back (e.g. health, welfare benefits) and the labour laws were changed so that there is a greater flexibility for firms hiring and firing workers. All these political measures intend to maximize the efficiency and the profits of the local branches in an increasingly global economy in which one has to be competitive.
In addition more and more companies in developed countries move their operations to countries where the wage level and the environmental protection are lower in order to cut their costs. On the one hand these companies and the developing countries (that benefit from the emergence of new jobs or from the capital inflow) profit from the globalization but on the other hand these cheap labour forces get exploit in comparison to the Western working standards. Generally it gets more difficult to represent worker’s interests in a globalized world, because shareholders’ interests are often more important than social concerns which is also noticeable in the neo-liberal politics.
Furthermore the developing countries get more dependant on foreign countries because of their investments – So economies can be easily devastated if foreign investors decide to pull out their capital which leads to an increasing unemployment (also because of a lack of worker protection in those countries).
But there are also cases from which we, the commonality, can benefit from: For example the prizes of many products get lower through the increasing competition, there may come up new jobs and there are more possibilities for us to work abroad.
All in all there are both benefits and disadvantages coming up through globalization: Companies profit from the neo-liberal policies and the possibility to move their operations abroad, developing countries benefit from the capital inflow and the new companies but also get more dependant on them, workers may fear the reduction of welfare benefits and social services but they can also profit from lower prizes and new jobs.
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(I'm not quite sure whether that's the right forum, so please move it, where it belongs!  ) |
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