Globalization- Economic and Cultural Change

  "Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture. Advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the telegraph and its posterity the Internet, are major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities."(1)

 The economic consequences of a “global market” can have both negative and positive effects on a country’s economic system. An economic consequence that can benefit many companies that sell specific products is the opportunity to sell its products in many countries thus expanding the clientele list and increasing its income and profit. The internet can be a very powerful tool when it comes to advertising a product globally. It can also serve as a means of finding an online job which can be offered by any country in the world, therefore providing an income to people who otherwise cannot find a job in their country.

 Globalization can also have negative economic consequences when it comes to sales and the market in general. Locally produced products have to compete with imported products that have lower prices and are more widely available to the public thus more popular. This has mainly affected small businesses that have failed to adjust to the new economic conditions resulting from the globalization of the market. The global market has brought a lot of competition to all countries, leaving some unable to keep up with it thus falling into economic crisis. On the other hand this has benefited countries with very cheap manpower and mass production of products such as China. China produces a vast variety of products in very low prices that other countries cannot compete with.

 The process of globalization also had cultural impact on the countries around the world. Through transportation and telecommunication the interchange of ideas, traditions, habits and other aspects of culture became very easy thus began the process of culture exchange and influence. This, can be viewed as both negative and positive. The positive aspect of this process could be the idea that by experiencing and learning about a different culture can help people understand more things about the world and even help us discover more things about ourselves. A negative aspect of this cultural influence is the idea that the individual traditions and customs of each country will slowly deteriorate and fade away, leaving behind a mixture of cultures that cannot be defined as unique and original. This belief is most popular among conservative people who fear that their values and beliefs are in danger of being replaced by “foreign” cultural systems.

 Globalization has both positive and negative aspects. It is up to each country to find ways to deal with the negative impact on its economy and culture and to take advantage of all the new opportunities presented to them and help its people adapt to the new conditions through education and socio-economic reform.

(1) Wikipedia "Globalization"