Globalization And Its Effect On Poverty Essay Example For Students

Globalization And Its Effect On Poverty Essay Globalization and Its Effect on PovertyGlobalization has helped raise the standard of living for many people worldwide. It has also, however, driven many deeper into poverty. Small businesses and third world countries are not capable of updating their technology as often as their larger, wealthier counterparts. Unable to compete with multinational firms and wealthy nations, small businesses and third world countries and forced to do business locally, never growing and reaching their full potential. Technological advances are made daily throughout the world. However, it is expensive to rapidly make and transport these advances globally. This high production cost causes the consumer’s price to be unnecessarily high. Today, there are many countries in the world that cannot afford to pay such a high price for the latest technology, and by the time they can afford to pay, newer, more advanced technology exists. The democratization of technology benefits mainly the wealthier countries. 2Technological advances not only benefit wealthy countries, but also wealthier companies. Technological advancements allow countries and their companies worldwide publicity when they are successful. Because investors are able to easily invest on the Internet, on the telephone, and through facsimile machines, the profits of companies have increased greatly. Currency traders all over the world have also been able to update exchange rates and notify the public of the updates more rapidly. This has led to more desire to finalize deals because companies are able to be sure that they are receiving competitive exchange rates. Swissair, an airline based in Switzerland, even moved its entire accounting division from Switzerland to India simply because the accountants in India are among the best in the world. They were able to do this because all of the information from their new office halfway around the world was transmitted through the use of technologically advanced devices. Because labor is cheaper and the workers are more skilled in India, the company benefited in two ways. For the same reasons as in India, Thailand has moved from being primarily a rice-producing nation, to the world’s second largest producer of pickup 3trucks and fourth largest producer of motorcycles (In Class Handouts). As far back as the invention of the telephone, the countries with the best economies were the most technologically advanced. The invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 allowed information to be sent around the world considerably more rapidly than ever before. Before the invention of the telephone, it might have taken days, weeks, or even months to courier documents around the world. Today, however, Selectronic, a company in Delhi, India takes doctors dictation from a toll-free number in the United States, transcribes the recordings, and sends the text back to a U.S. HMO (In Class Handouts). With the invention of the telephone and its spread to the world’s wealthier countries also came increased growth in the wealthier countries’ economies. The global marketplace is based on a winner take all system. The wealthy, â€Å"winning† companies and countries are able to sell their goods and services to a global market, while the â€Å"losing†, poorer countries and businesses are limited to their local markets. Massive global markets also create huge incentives for businesses and nations to market products internationally. The National Basketball 4Association, for example, in 1998 sold more than five hundred million dollars in licensed merchandise worldwide. The NBA owes this huge source of income to advances in technology. Basketball organizations in other countries that cannot afford to market their organizations globally, however, are forced to sell licensed merchandise only in their countries, substantially lowering potential profits. In the past fifty years, global capitalism has raised the living standards of more people higher and faster than the previous five hundred years. Increasing the number of â€Å"haves† in the world has also dramatically increased the number of â€Å"have-nots†. It has also driven the poor further into poverty making it more and more unlikely that they will ever recover. Glo balization creates tensions, especially within nations and companies, between those who have the skills and resources to compete in the global market and those who do not. Disability Is Not Inability Sample EssayEffective countries and businesses are not merely the most technologically advanced. They are also the ones who are constantly seeking to upgrade and improve their existing technology. The world’s poorer countries cannot afford, however, to upgrade their technology as often. Nevertheless, countries and businesses must always work to increase the speed of transactions, investment, production, and government. They must also learn to operate their existing software and networks at full potential before it is updated so that the efficiency is maximized. Low productivity within a country or a company leads to a low standard of living and higher levels of poverty. Low productivity within a nation or a company also causes it to be less competitive in the global marketplace. If a 9company or a nation cannot afford to constantly update their goods and technologies, then they will not be able to compete globally. Foreign competitors set the standard for quality and production schedules of goods. Again, if a company is unable to update its factories, it will not be competitive and have more poverty. The democratization of finance has helped globalization flourish. The wealthy countries, however, are reaping the majority of the benefits. While there is more money available for companies to get started, the majority of the profits of the new companies are being invested in wealthy countries. Investments in the United States have gone from one hundred million to nearly three trillion dollars. While the economy of the United States has developed into one of the strongest, most stable in the world, many third world countries were forced deeper into poverty as a result. A contributing factor to the success of globalization has been the creation of alliances and economic integration. The countries that benefit the most from these alliances, however, are traditionally wealthier countries. Free trade, customs unions, common markets, and economic unions are essential to the spread of 10globalization; however, they impede the growth of third world countries not included in the group. Globalization, while essential to the success of the global marketplace, has a darker, less visible side. It benefits some third world countries, most wealthy countries, as well as large, well-known multinational companies. It, however, causes the economies of many countries and smaller companies to collapse. In an effort to promote competition worldwide, globalization has actually rendered it impossible for some companies that were successful locally to transfer their success to the global stage. It has also blocked investments and growth of some poorer, third world countr ies. Globalization decreases poverty in some countries while simultaneously increasing it in others. Business Reports