What is Globalization?
"Globalization
is a relatively new term used to describe a very old process. It is a
historical process that began with our human ancestors moving out of
Africa to spread all over the globe. In the millennia that have
followed, distance has been largely overcome and human-made barriers
lowered or removed to facilitate the exchange of goods and ideas.
Propelled by the desire to improve one's life and helped along by
technology, both the interconnectedness and interdependence have
grown. This increasing integration of the world or 'globalization' has
enriched life but also created new problems."
[ Source:
"What is
Globalization?" YaleGlobal Online. ]
"...Globalization
is simply the logic of the market playing out. And the market takes on
a life of its own, beyond the control of any single nation." --
Lael Brainard
[Source:
"Smoothing the Rough Edges of Globalization." Speech by
Lael Brainard.
Brookings: Globalization.]
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The World Bank Definition
"Globalization is one of the most charged issues
of the day. It is everywhere in public discourse – in TV sound bites and
slogans on placards, in web-sites and learned journals, in parliaments,
corporate boardrooms and labor meeting halls. Extreme opponents charge it
with impoverishing the world's poor, enriching the rich and devastating
the environment, while fervent supporters see it as a high-speed elevator
to universal peace and prosperity. What is one to think?
"Amazingly for
so widely used a term, there does not appear to be any precise,
widely-agreed definition. Indeed the breadth of meanings attached to
it seems to be increasing rather than narrowing over time, taking on
cultural, political and other connotations in addition to the economic.
However, the most common or core sense of economic globalization – the
aspect this paper concentrates on - surely refers to the observation that
in recent years a quickly rising share of economic activity in the world
seems to be taking place between people who live in different countries
(rather than in the same country). This growth in cross-border
economic activities takes various forms:
"International
Trade: A growing share of spending on goods
and services is devoted to imports from other countries. And a growing
share of what countries produce is sold to foreigners as exports. Among
rich or developed countries the share of international trade in total
output (exports plus imports of goods relative to GDP) rose from 27 to 39
percent between 1987 and 1997. For developing countries it rose from 10 to
17 percent. (The source for many of these data is the World Bank's
World Development Indicators 2000.)
"Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI). Firms based in one
country increasingly make investments to establish and run business
operations in other countries. US firms invested US$133 billion abroad in
1998, while foreign firms invested US$193 billion in the US. Overall world
FDI flows more than tripled between 1988 and 1998, from US$192 billion to
US$610 billion, and the share of FDI to GDP is generally rising in both
developed and developing countries. Developing countries received about a
quarter of world FDI inflows in 1988-98 on average, though the share
fluctuated quite a bit from year to year. This is now the largest form
of private capital inflow to developing countries.
"Capital
Market Flows. In many countries (especially
in the developed world) savers increasingly diversify their portfolios to
include foreign financial assets (foreign bonds, equities, loans), while
borrowers increasingly turn to foreign sources of funds, along with
domestic ones. While flows of this kind to developing countries also rose
sharply in the 1990s, they have been much more volatile than either trade
or FDI flows, and have also been restricted to a narrower range of
'emerging market' countries.
[Source:
"Assessing Globalization: Part 1: What Is Globalization."
World Bank: Globalization.]
Now Showing: The
Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/hi/index.html
"The
current global economy is the outgrowth of a century of trial-and-error
experimentation with different political and economic ideologies.
The core battle of ideas is an argument about the best way to
promote the economic welfare of society as a whole.
For most of the last century the argument has centered on the role
that central governments should or should not play in economic activity.
For much of the last century the argument appeared to swing in
favor of central planning and government control.
"More recently, the pendulum
has swung the other way, toward greater reliance on market forces to
determine the allocation of resources. The
transition away from central control has increased productivity and
expanded wealth, but has also been societally wrenching for the peoples of
many nations.
"In recent decades, technology
has also fundamentally changed the way economies behave and interrelate.
We are just beginning to understand how to reap the benefits and manage
the risks these changes have introduced. While
the growth of globally integrated markets has expanded wealth and raised
living standards in many parts of the world, there have also been
destructive effects. The Asian economic contagion of 1997-8 is one
example.
"Because the benefits of
globalization have not been distributed equitably, the gulf between rich
and poor continues to threaten the stability of the system as a whole.
Equipping dispossessed populations to benefit from open global
markets and entrepreneurial capitalism constitutes one of the major
challenges of the 21st century."
[Source:
Educator's Guide. The Commanding Heights. PBS.]
Joseph Stiglitz's Initiative for Policy
Dialogue
http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/ipd/
"The
Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) was founded by Nobel laureate
economist Joseph Stiglitz in July 2000. IPD helps developing and
transition countries explore policy alternatives, and enables wide civic
participation in economic policymaking.
"The
failure of global economic policies to consistently help developing
countries achieve sustainable, equitable growth has inspired widespread
international protest against the process of globalization.
"Yet
instead of exploring the full range of economic solutions, the
international debate has often centered on a narrow range of policy
alternatives. Government officials in many transition and developing
countries have expressed concern with the lack of policy options. IPD
offers serious economic alternatives.
"IPD
brings together a global network of economists, political scientists, and
practitioners from the North and South with diverse backgrounds and views.
The network explores policy alternatives and educates civil society
through four main activities: task forces, country dialogues, journalism
training, and research. Our aim is to enhance the quality of dialogue on
key economic issues by broadening the debate, while leaving the selection
of policy to the political process."
[Source: Initiative
for Policy Dialogue. Columbia University.]
YaleGlobal Online
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/index.jsp
"YaleGlobal
online magazine is the flagship publication of the
Yale Center for the Study of
Globalization. The magazine explores the implications of the growing
interconnectedness of the world.
YaleGlobal draws on the
rich intellectual resources of the Yale University community, scholars
from other universities, and public- and private-sector experts from
around the world.
"Our aim is to analyze and
promote debate on all aspects of globalization through articles and
multi-media presentations. The online magazine also republishes, with a
brief comment, important articles from other publications in the world
that illuminate many sides of this complex phenomenon. To the extent
permitted by copyright arrangements with various publications,
YaleGlobal archives
such articles and makes them available for search and retrieval.
"YaleGlobal
is developing an archive of academic papers on globalization as well as
book excerpts and reviews of books on the same subject. The online
magazine also offers audio-visual presentations by speakers at Yale and
elsewhere."
[Source:
Mission
Statement - YaleGlobal Online Magazine.]
The International
Forum for Globalization
http://www.ifg.org/
"The
International Forum on Globalization (IFG) is an alliance of sixty leading
activists, scholars, economists, researchers and writers formed to
stimulate new thinking, joint activity, and public education in response
to economic globalization.
"Representing over 60
organizations in 25 countries, the International Forum on Globalization
associates come together out of a shared concern that the world's
corporate and political leadership is undertaking a restructuring of
global politics and economics that may prove as historically significant
as any event since the Industrial Revolution. This restructuring is
happening at tremendous speed, with little public disclosure of the
profound consequences affecting democracy, human welfare, local economies,
and the natural world. (Read
more)."
[Source:
The International Forum for Globalization.]
