Emily Newsom
ECON627 – Article Review
The Future of Globalization Globalization is the process by which nations become increasingly integrated. This is occurring primarily due to advances in technology that have enabled people, goods, money, data and ideas to travel the world much faster than before; and the reduction of trade and economic barriers, which has greatly increased trade between countries.
In recent years, globalization has become a hot topic, one that has been associated with trends such as the following:
• The rise and expansion of multinational corporations with business interests and employees in several countries, including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Sony, IBM, Unilever, Nike and Shell.
• The emergence of global financial markets in centers such as New York, London, Frankfurt and Hong Kong, providing businesses around the world with easier access to financing.
• Greater levels of immigration, changing the ethnic, cultural and religious composition of several countries and leading to the establishment of multicultural societies.
• The erosion of trade barriers between groups of nations, leading to the emergence of powerful trading blocs, with names such as NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), the European Union and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
Globalization is not new. Historically, people have left their surroundings and traveled to distant lands for four main reasons: conquest (the desire to control other countries); prosperity (the search for a better life); exploration (the desire to discover new lands); and trade (the desire to sell goods profitably).
The first steps toward globalizing as we know it today were taken in the 16th and 17th centuries when the Portuguese and Spanish empires spread into Africa, the Americas and Asia seeking gold, silver and spices. The Dutch, French and British empires