Globalization on Steroids

When I turned on the television over Thanksgiving break I was shocked. I was flipping channels, and when I reached CNN I paused. Again. Terroism has been occuring for thousands of years, however the increase in the last decade has been tragic. What possess’ people to take others lives with such a lack for human life? This was all I could think of as I watched the terrorism unfold in Mumbai, India. When all of the insurgants had been killed, around 150 people had lost their lives. These people were of all ethnicities and nationalities, young and old both. When I heard that these insurgants had focused on hotels that catered to mostly foreign travelers and dignitaries, the reasons became evident. I feel that this attack comes from the worst effects of globalization. These insurgants were Pakistani, and apparantly were angry with the Indian presence in the Kashmir region. While this was a motivating factor for these..bastards.., the location that they attacked showed their anti-foreign sentiments as well. This attack was aimed at Americans and other foreign visitors, because the terrorists felt that their culture was being threatned. With all of the Americanization in the world presently, radical extremeists such as these are taking their message to tremendously violent levels. This is not to say that I excuse them for what they have done. Only the sickest and most disgustingly callous and ignorant people do things such as this. It is times like these that I wish America would just lay off the world, and that the nuts would lay off us. If people would just stop trying to spread their culture, whether it be through religious fanaticism or business, then the world would be better.

China has come a long way. In the early days when China’s economy was almost non-existent, they needed more than just a switch to capitalism; they needed globalization. With the introduction of the Special Economic Zones in the 1980’s China was on its way, however without globalization it would never have become the world power it is today. Globalization has affected China’s entire economy, with results being seen in China’s imports, exports GDP, employment, per capita incomes, and income distribution. Due to globalizations massive effects, each of these has increased beyond anything thought possible.

When China became capitalist, it attracted attention from neighboring nations that began taking interest in its economy. Because of this, China now has firm trading relationships with: Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, The U.S and Germany. These countries are very involved with China, with China exporting most of its products to them, and receiving most imports from them in return. Overall, China imported 904.6 billion dollars worth of goods last year. These imports include: machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, LED screens, data processing equipment, and optical and medical equipment; just to name a few. This massive amount of goods coming into the country has boosted the economy greatly in the past few years. Additionally, increases in China’s exports have risen recently. Last year alone, China exported 1.22 trillion according to the CIA World Fact book. This huge figure comes from their exporting of: machinery, electrical products, and data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, steel, and mobile phones primarily. This affects the GDP hugely, with it now a booming 7.009 trillion. Also, what’s per capita GDP?

These amazing figures are of course all tied back to globalization. Globalization has affected these imports, exports, and GDP, because it has given China an advantage in manufacturing. China has a large population with which to work, and they know how to use it. Globalization has raised levels of technology in China, which as stated previously attracted more nations with which to trade. This affects the GDP, which has risen greatly after globalization, due to the improved manufacturing based economy. Logically, when the GDP is up, so will income per capita. Globalization has provided many new manufacturing jobs that pay much higher than the rural agricultural ones. While the income per capita is hardly anything compared to American wages, for the average Chinese laborer, it is a change for the better. The income per capita is now at 5,400. While this figure is a large jump from decades ago, there are some underlying problems. This figure represents mostly urban workers. Due to globalization, there is massive unemployment in the agricultural market. This is because of large amounts of the population leaving the rural fields to travel to large cities. This means that there is a very uneven income distribution in China as a whole. With these low wages for farmers, there is now a looming food shortage, one that seems inevitable.

With all this progress mixed in with problems, there is not much that can change in the near future. China will keep perpetually drawing more workers to cities. This is about all they can do, because their entire economy now rests on the manufacturing industry. This will inevitably cause food shortages, which is something that they must work to fix before they face a true famine. When this occurs then they will have to implement changes, but until then, they seem happy to let globalization take the economy to new heights.

With all of this progress, one must reflect on just how important this international interest truly is to China’s economy. Without this influx of trade with foreign nations, China would have huge social problems. With such a huge population, China needs to bring in a lot of money to support itself. With the entire economy resting on its manufacturing business and exports, it would be impossible for China to survive at this point without international trade and financial flows. As of 2007, about 48.6 percent of China’s GDP is based on imports and exports. Like it or not, China’s entire economy now rests on the shoulders of these exports.

Another topic of consideration is the amount of foreign owned business in China. As of 2008 there are about 150,000 foreign owned enterprises in China. While this is a large figure, it does not necessarily mean what it would to other smaller nations. China’s economy is so large and internationally invested, that foreign presence is not as crucial as international exporting is. This does not mean that foreign businesses are unimportant however. The ACFTU now represents 200 million workers in foreign owned factories and businesses. This is a huge amount of workers. If they were to lose their jobs, China would be in trouble to say the least. The ACFTU is controlled by the government, and has demanded that all foreign owned corporations allow its workers to join unions. Companies such as Microsoft are trying to avoid allowing such changes, however they cannot outright refuse to do so. Either way, this is a huge increase in foreign owned employment than in the past. This number has changed significantly over time, and once again it all ties back to globalization in China bringing interest from overseas. Indeed, many corporations see China as a place where they can open up shop and watch the money flow in. One of the reasons that this happens is due to the fact that they can charge lower wages for unskilled labor. Despite this foreign owned businesses actually pay higher than domestically owned businesses in China. They can do this because the wages paid are still far lower than they would be in their own countries. Finally, a topic of consideration is the businesses that produce exports for overseas consumption. These corporations employ around 30% of China’s workforce. With so many people in this sector, one has to wonder what the wages are for this type of work. As it turns out, the wages are not as good as those provided by foreign companies. However this does not mean that they are not higher than those of agricultural farmers. Most of China’s urban population works in these types of jobs, and as stated before the average yearly salary is around 5,400 American dollars per year.

Overall, China seems to be the prime example of a nation, which prospered through globalization. With rises in GDP, imports, exports, wages, and growth rates, China is on the fast track to becoming a superpower. Its economic growth is astounding, and it is increasing also, growing at more than eleven percent per year. With so many changes in such a short time, China should be proof to all that globalization is a force to be reckoned with.

Bibliography

Samuelson, Robert J.. “China’s Trade Time Bomb”. Washington Post. 11/11/08 <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801580.html>.

Sara, Flounders. “Foreign Businesses in China Forced to Unionize”. Workers World. 11/11/08 <http://www.workers.org/2008/world/china_1023/>.

“Fatter Pay Packets for Chinese Graduates”. Shanghai Municipal Labour and Social Security Bureau. 11/11/08 <http://www.12333sh.gov.cn/english/news/new/200809/t20080910_1054120.htm>.

Feenstra, Robert C.. “China’s Exports and Employment”. 11/11/08 <http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/13552.html>.

This might be a little late on the post, however I could not figure out how to put it on the wiki. I looked into the effects of globalization on the environment, and I stumbled across not just a page but an actual book on the topic. Its written as a brief report of sorts, and the author highlights five major factors of globalization’s spread on the economy. At just 39 pages, I think it is something that could be used next year as a resource in the curriculum. I read some of it and I found it very interesting, as well as relevant to the environmental crisis that is gripping the world at the moment. (eternally) I would encourage anyone to read it, and I think most will enjoy it. With no further ado:

http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2007/trade_environment_globalization.pdf

Happy reading.

A nation who’s  culture is being erased has much to fear from globalization. However we as Americans are generally all in favor of it. However, we have something to be worried about as well. With globalization giving other nations a leg up, we are generally the ones giving them this boost. Its not like we do this because we want to see less wealthy nations than ourselves prosper out of good intentions alone. Rather it is because if they expand and increase their wealth economically, we make a profit from their success, because we now have more options with international exports and imports. Due to the great leaps in globalization lately, we are doing quite well. Of course we are the worlds leading superpower. However by doing these nations a favor, we are not long for being the only superpower. Because of this if anyone has a reason to fear globalization, its us. I’m not saying that we should condemn technology and international trade because we are scared of losing our status as the big kid on the playground. On the contrary, I feel that the leveling of the playing field is a good thing, and that it will help us economically even further. Despite this though, many people in the U.S. are against globalization for this reason. Its a scary thought though. We’ve been on top for so long, that we’ve forgotten what its like to be equal with another nation, or the underdog for that matter. With the rise of globalization, we will some of these radical changes. I’m not sure how quickly this will happen, however I feel it is inevitable. With this recession helping us out, maybe this is the time itself. Who knows, if things get REALLY bad, by the time we pull ourselves out of the hole, we may find that some of our friends across the ocean are a lot closer than they were when we last looked.

My last blog post I wrote had to do with the “Americanization” of the world, and its critics. While America is of course giving its culture to other nations everyday, we seem to be the only ones who are blamed for it. Sure the French don’t like us. Whatever. However if I look on Youtube, its pretty easy for more to find some pretty ridiculous videos of the French imitating us. For all of their bluster on how were ruining their nation, the youth have certainly adopted some of our culture that they find intriguing. An example of this can be seen easily if you just type in “French rap.” They may not like our cuisine or manners, but boy do they like our music apparently. This selective love of American culture kinda annoys me to be honest. Yeah I know they probably speak English better than I do French, but watching a French guy rap kinda made me laugh to be honest.. (I know I sound like an asshole.) I guess this is the whole point of globalization though. Some of it doesn’t stick overseas, and some of it is downright hated. However, certain aspects get picked up and eventually worked into the foreign culture so much, that they eventually accept it and even love it regardless. (The French just seem to have chosen the worst parts of our music to like.) This can also be seen greatly in asia, with American movies and cinema. China in particular is a fan of the Hollywood movie scene, and the funniest thing about it is that the children their assume that the movies are made in China. This seems to make sense, seeing as a young child here might assume that all of the cartoons and comics are made here in the U.S., when much of them are Japanese. What really made me laugh though, was when I read about the American cinema in North Korea. Yes, North Korea. Everyone knows that North Korea is probably the most sheltered and closed off nation around today, and that their are intensely anti-western influence. They flatly refuse to adopt most things American. The funny things is, cinema, the most influential and biased view of the American lifestyle and dream, is actually shown in North Korea. Granted the movies are tightly censored and hand selected by the government, however the children there are actually under the impression that they are watching Korean films. I watched a program on television about it, and it made me laugh when a group of school kids was asked what their favorite Korean movies were, and they responded ‘Shrek.’ The irony is so thick I could cut it with a knife. Oh well. At least they didn’t say Gossip Girl.

China has come a long way. In the early days when Chinas economy was almost non-existent, they needed more than just a switch to capitalism; they needed globalization. With the introduction of the Special Economic Zones in the 1980’s China was on its way, however without globalization it would never have become the world power it is today. Globalization has affected China’s entire economy, with results being seen in China’s imports, exports GDP, employment, per capita incomes, and income distribution. Due to globalizations massive effects, each of these has increased beyond anything thought possible.

            When China became capitalist, it attracted attention from neighboring nations that began taking interest in its economy. Because of this, China now has firm trading relationships with: Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, The U.S and Germany. These countries are very involved with China, with China exporting most of its products to them, and receiving most imports from them in return. Overall, China imported 904.6 billion dollars worth of goods last year. These imports include: machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, LED screens, data processing equipment, and optical and medical equipment; just to name a few. This massive amount of goods coming into the country has boosted the economy greatly in the past few years. Additionally, increases in China’s exports have risen recently. Last year alone, China exported 1.22 trillion according to the CIA World Fact book. This huge figure comes from their exporting of: machinery, electrical products, and data processing equipment, apparel, textile, steel, and mobile phones primarily. This affects the GDP hugely, with it now a booming 7.009 trillion.

            These amazing figures are of course all tied back to globalization. Globalization has affected these imports, exports, and GDP, because it has given China an advantage in manufacturing. China has a large population with which to work, and they know how to use it. Globalization has raised levels of technology in China, which as stated previously attracted more nations with which to trade. This affects the GDP, which has risen greatly after globalization, due to the improved manufacturing based economy. Logically, when the GDP is up, so will income per capita. Globalization has provided many new manufacturing jobs that pay much higher than the rural agricultural ones. While the income per capita is hardly anything compared to American wages, for the average Chinese laborer, it is a change for the better. The income per capita is now at 5,400. While this figure is a large jump from decades ago, there are some underlying problems. This figure represents mostly urban workers. Due to globalization, there is massive unemployment in the agricultural market. This is because of large amounts of the population leaving the rural fields to travel to large cities. This means that there is a very uneven income distribution in China as a whole. With these low wages for farmers, there is now a looming food shortage, one that seems inevitable.

            With all this progress mixed in with problems, there is not much that can change in the near future. China will keep perpetually drawing more workers to cities. This is about all they can do, because their entire economy now rests on the manufacturing industry. This will inevitably cause food shortages, which is something that they must work to fix before they face a true famine.   When this occurs then they will have to implement changes, but until then, they seem happy to let globalization take the economy to new heights.

            With all of this progress, one must reflect on just how important this international interest truly is to China’s economy. Without this influx of trade with foreign nations, China would have huge social problems. With such a huge population, China needs to bring in a lot of money to support itself. With the entire economy resting on its manufacturing business and exports, it would be impossible for China to survive at this point without international trade and financial flows. As of 2007, about 48.6 percent of China’s GDP is based on imports and exports. Like it or not, China’s entire economy now rests on the shoulders of these exports.

            Another topic of consideration is the amount of foreign owned business in China.  As of 2008 there are about 150,000 foreign owned enterprises in China. While this is a large figure, it does not necessarily mean what it would to other smaller nations. China’s economy is so large and internationally invested, that foreign presence is not as crucial as international exporting is. This does not mean that foreign businesses are unimportant however. The ACFTU now represents 200 million workers in foreign owned factories and businesses. This is a huge amount of workers. If they were to lose their jobs, China would be in trouble to say the least. The ACFTU is controlled by the government, and has demanded that all foreign owned corporations allow its workers to join unions. Companies such as Microsoft are trying to avoid allowing such changes, however they cannot outright refuse to do so. Either way, this is a huge increase in foreign owned employment than in the past. This number has changed significantly over time, and once again it all ties back to globalization in China bringing interest from overseas. Indeed, many corporations see China as a place where they can open up shop and watch the money flow in.  One of the reasons that this happens is due to the fact that they can charge lower wages for unskilled labor. Despite this foreign owned businesses actually pay higher than domestically owned businesses in China. They can do this because the wages paid are still far lower than they would be in their own countries. Finally, a topic of consideration is the businesses that produce exports for overseas consumption. These corporations employ around 30% of China’s workforce. With so many people in this sector, one has to wonder what the wages are for this type of work. As it turns out, the wages are not as good as those provided by foreign companies. However this does not mean that they are not higher than those of agricultural farmers. Most of China’s urban population works in these types of jobs, and as stated before the average yearly salary is around 5,400 American dollars per year.

            Overall, China seems to be the prime example of a nation, which prospered through globalization. With rises in GDP, imports, exports, wages, and growth rates, China is on the fast track to becoming a superpower. Its economic growth is astounding, and it is increasing also, growing at more than eleven percent per year. With so many changes in such a short time, China should be proof to all that globalization is a force to be reckoned with.

When one speaks of globalization, they usually are talking about technology, and economic related areas of interest. While this is an important part of it, one must also consider the effect this has upon these nations cultures. Some of these cultures embrace these changes, while others resent them. There is usually not a specific pattern to which nations are accepting and those that are not. For example, France and Iraq are both very anti-globalization and resent western influence, while other european and middle eastern nations welcome it with open arms. Such examples are the United Arab Emirates (especially Dubai), and the United Kingdom. Due to this, one must consider what contributes to these anti-globalization sentiments. Many nations argue that it is a loss of culture and heritage that angers them. France in particular is fierce about losing its esteemed cuisine to burger joints like McDonalds. (After 18 years of the food I can hardly blame them.) These nations are less than fond of the “American Dream”, and less fond still of it jumping continents and bulldozing their cultures. But will this really occur? Personally I doubt it. What makes countries grow and expand is this sharing of other cultures. Without this, nations will stagnate and become stuck in the past. A prime example of this was feudal Japan. When Japan finally embraced trade and commerce from outside nations, it was well into the 19th century. They were so far behind that they believed Commodore Perry’s warships to be black dragons who spewed smoke. As we see now, Japan caught up. Thanks to globalization their economy is booming, and they now control much of the worlds technological industry to boot. Sure France isn’t stuck in the past, however they need not fear the future. McDonalds may have taken over the world, but it’s not going to destroy their culture. People will always prefer their native cuisine over a cheap burger. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t be worried if I was in their shoes however. The golden arches have become a symbol of the west and all that it stands for in these countries eyes. I can almost imagine them fearing their culture will be deep-fried and stuck on a cheap plastic tray. What I propose is that globalization is the less of two evils. Sure everyone has a native culture that they feel they must uphold and protect; but if they reject new cultures completely then their going to be stuck in the past. If you want your country to expand and develop with regard to survival in the future, then nations can’t continue to run away from change anymore. The world is moving to fast these days for a nation to be able to catch up if they fall of the wagon. The bottom line is: protect your culture, but embrace change. If people can learn to do that, then their well on their way to the future. What a bright one it is.

With the ballots being cast tomorrow, the entire nation is tense and emotions are running high. The candidates gave some final speeches yesterday, and I happened to be watching CNN when Obama went on in Cincinnati, Ohio. While the speech was basically the same recycled message about hope, the middle class, and how he’s going to change America, one of the more interesting topics to me was outsourcing. Obama repeated multiple times throughout the speech, that he was looking to increase taxes on businesses that shipped jobs overseas, so that more jobs are retained for American workers. This was interesting of course because I’m in globalization class right now, but also because of the huge impact this would have on the economy. In contrast John McCain’s plan for outsourcing calls for more tolerance to companies who send jobs overseas. I feel that Obama has the right on this issue as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of “flattening”, and helping other nations economies out; however in this current recession, it seems that what we need right now is more jobs so that the employment doesn’t continue to drop. If we are going to allow more and more jobs to drift overseas, we better make sure that their are new jobs being created in America to subsidize the loss. If McCain has a plan for this, I haven’t heard of it. I looked online at his Jobs For America site, and he has a lot of words that don’t specifically say where, when, or how he’s going to create these jobs. He better start thinking quick.. or rather I hope he doesn’t need to after Wednesday.

It’s election season. For the past year, its been almost impossible to turn on the television, radio, or even walk down the street without hearing some political conversation. One of the main points in the race is foreign policy. We all know by now that differences in foreign policy can make or break a presidents legacy; and in tradition of the last administration, Americas legacy as well. Both candidates offer different opinions on the subject, particularly in terms of the War in Iraq. Obviously this is a tense issue, with the country war weary already. However, with Obama in favor of troop reductions and pulling out, and McCain’s strategy of ‘staying the course’, both decisions will have impacts on our currently fragile economy. With the American deficit currently at 10,560,330,000,000 at counting (I have a feed that shows it growing in real time. Scary.), the cost of occupying Iraq indefinitely will have a huge effect. Additionally, if we move into Iran the recession will not be short. Pouring money into the Iraqi economy for them is foolish. Because of our generous habit of ‘spreading democracy’ Iraq now has a surplus of over 80 billion dollars. If we are to get out of this recession anytime soon, we must let the Iraqi’s use their own money, instead of repeating the strategy of sitting back and having our economy take a hit. In my opinion this election will make or break our nations economic stability. Of course domestic policies are a huge factor as well. The new presidency is a chance to do away with trickle-down economics that have been outdated and proven to not be effective since the Regan administration. Tax cuts to the wealthy may sound like they work in theory, but if we continue in this fashion the rest of America is going to be sinking while that top percent stays happy. With so much at stake, one can only imagine the repercussions possible.

Recently I was lying in my bed with just about nothing to do. This happened to be because my throat was killing me, and I needed something to relieve it. What do you do? Grab some pills. I leaned over and got some Tylenol. After taking a few pills, it got me thinking. If I alone buy a couple boxes of Tylenol a year, add in all of the other cough medicines and household drugs; thats a lot of money. If you add in the amount of perscribed medicines for health and unhealthy people as well; and then think about every person in the world who needs these things, thats HUGE of money. The size of the medical industry is huge, with profits far exceeding those of any other company in America. However, I’m not entirely sure that all of these drugs are even made here. Additionally, these drug companies make a fortune, and that money is a huge part of our economy. Due to the population increasing so dramatically, there will be no shortage of people wanting their medicines. I was wondering which countries in the world are the largest producers of drugs and medicines, and whether America outsources the making of its medicines to other nations to reduce labour costs. I assuming that they undoubtedly do, as in all other fields today. This makes the entire pharmaceutical industry tied into global economics. The amount of money that is crossing the global market that goes into drug research, advertising, production, wages of workers, doctors, pharmacists, and product transport is crazy. With this recession thats going on, it doesn’t seem like the medical industry will take a hit at all. Everyone will always need more Tylenol, and it seems to be one of the last things they would give up as ‘excessive lifestyle’ choices. With the industry as large as it is today, it seems like the entire world is running and depending on drugs and their manufacturers. The health care and medical fields will never have a shortage of jobs available in-order to accommodate all of this demand; doctors and pharmacists both.