Is Economic Globalization Good for Humankind?
Vernon P. Bolt
BUSN 4300 Business Ethics
March 7, 2013
Dr. Kathy S. Quinn
I think free trade is good for the world, because it promotes stability. Free trade and economic globalization is good for the world, overall. It does mean transfers of some wealth and movement of a lot of jobs, which means adjustments and sometimes painful transitions in affected economies. But, as various nations are more closely intertwined, there is further need for good diplomatic relations and international peace and stability, in order to maintain existing prosperity.
The primary way in which trade works to improve our lives, and ironically the target of much criticism from opponents of globalization, is through specialization. International trade takes place when one group of people can produce a product cheaper than another group. For example even though it would be possible to grow oranges in Alaska, using greenhouses, Floridians can grow oranges far cheaper than Alaskans. By contrast, Alaskans produce salmon cheaper than Floridians could ever imagine. On the basis of these differences in costs of production, it makes sense for the people in Florida to grow oranges and for Alaskans to produce salmon, and then for the Floridians to trade some of their oranges to the Alaskans for salmon. In so doing, both the Floridians and the Alaskans will have more oranges and more salmon than it would be possible to have if they each tried to produce both products. That is, their standards of living will improve through this specialization and trade. Globalization is one of the defining trends of the 21st century. Rapid international development drives growth in the increasingly dense web of connections between developed and developing countries around the world. Advances and cost reductions in communications technology and transportation have made it ever easier to collaborate with...
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