What is globalisation?

A global economy is one in which goods, services, people and resources move freely across geographic borders.

The main drivers of globalisation are indicated by the following three areas:

• International trade of goods and services: international trade means global economies become more interdependent through exchanging of goods and services
• Financial capital transfer from one country to another: the development of multinational enterprises and booming foreign development investment epitomises the free flow of financial capital
• People’s movement across national borders: with the development of the global market, the barrier of labour flow is falling also

But does the emergence of this globalisation offer only opportunities or does it pose challenges as well? In the task below you will explore this question by reading two articles that look at the impact of trading in a globalised economy on a nation and its citizens.

Your task:

Read ‘Globalisation: Winners and losers’ (Abeyratne, 2019) and ‘The Changing Trade Landscape: Trade Agreements, Globalization and Inequality’ (Gonzalez, 2016).

• What are the benefits of globalisation for both developed economies and developing nations?
• What are the challenges?

Share your own experiences with globalisation in the comments area.

References

_{Abeyratne, S. (2019, February 10). Globalisation: Winners and losers. The Sunday Times. http://www.sundaytimes.lk/190217/business-times/globalisation-winners-and-losers-336041.html}

_{Gonzalez, A. (2016). The Changing Trade Landscape: Trade Agreements, Globalization and Inequality. The World Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/opinion/2016/09/14/the-changing-trade-landscape-trade-agreements-globalization-and-inequality}