The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Globalization Movement - Assignment Example

The 20th century mark a new era in international trade as the globalization movement took off after the Second World War. The globalization movement has interconnected the economies of over 200 countries around the world.

Globalization can be defined as the worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communication integration (Business Dictionary, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to describe the advantages and disadvantages of the globalization movement. The globalization movement has brought had a positive impact on society. It has tremendously increased the trade of goods and services worldwide. One of the nations that has benefited the most from globalization is China. China is the biggest exporter of goods worldwide.

China’s exports totaled $2.057 trillion in 2012 (Mapsofworld, 2014). The prices of goods have dropped due to globalization. The globalization movement has forced countries to specialize in certain goods in which a nation holds a competitive advantage. For example, Japan specializes in technological products, while other nations such as India and China specialize in labor-intensive industries such as the textile industry in which companies take advantage of the low labor costs associated with doing business in these nations.

Globalization has also had a positive effect on the humanitarian efforts of society. A lot more money is been invested in developing countries such as Africa to help these people increase their standard of living. Overall the standard of living of everyone around the world has increased as a direct consequence of globalization. National boundaries have been broken for international commerce due to the many trade agreements that exist around the world such as the NAFTA, European Union, and MERCOSUR.

Countries that in the past did not have access to capital have benefited from foreign direct investment (FDI) and from the ability to raise capital through equity markets such as NYSE, NASDAQ, and the London Stock Exchange among others. Despite the many benefits that globalization has had on our society it also has many cons. Globalization has not helped decrease the income disparity in the world. The top 5% richest members of society hold 70% of the global wealth. Certain nations such as Cuba have not been able to fully integrate into the global movement due to the embargo that the U.S. has had on Cuba since Fidel Castro started his dictatorship regime in this country.

From the U.S. perspective, the globalization movement has taken away a lot of jobs from its citizens as companies have moved their operations to develop countries where the labor costs are much lower and regulations are not as stringent. Another major problem that globalization has brought to earth is the abuse of natural resources and the proliferation of pollution in our environment. As we move forward into the third decade of the 21st century globalization is going to be a critical success factor to solve the many social problem that the world faces.