The Main Forces Promoting Globalization Economics Essay

The Main Forces Promoting Globalization Economics Essay Karl Marx wrote in the 1848 in the Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (The Communist Manifesto) that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾in place of the old local and national seclusion and self sufficiency we have exchanges in every direction, leading to the universal interdependence of nations. Therefore, we can conclude that globalization as a force for economic, political and social change is not a new phenomenon. In this essay I will extract what were the driving forces of globalization at the end of the 20th and 19th century and compare them to reach a conclusion of whether these two centuries experienced the same type of globalization. To start with, there are disputes amongst academics on what globalization really is. Globalization is a historically complex term and itself it could be a huge topic of global discussion and many articles. However, I will firstly give two definitions of this phenomenon in order to make it clearer to understand how important is the subject of this essay. Therefore, globalization isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The inexorable integration of markets, nation-states, and technologies to a degree never witnessed before-in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before . . . . the spread of free-market capitalism to virtually every country in the world (T.L. Friedman, (1990) The Lexus and the Olive Tree, p. 7-8). Andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The historical transformation constituted by the sum of particular forms and instances of . . . . making or being made global (i) by the active dissemination of practices, values, technology and other human products throughout the globe (ii) when global practices and so on exercise an increasing influence over peoples lives (iii) when the globe serves as a focus for, or a premise in shaping, human activities (M. Albrow, (1996) The Global Age, p. 88). As we have now acquired the formal definition of globalization, lets outline what were the sources of globalization in the late 20th century. One of the main causes behind globalization in the 20th century was technological innovation. Quickly changing technologies used in transport and communications continued to disband the barriers of time and distance that were making long range relationships between countries more difficult. In the 20th century, the most important technological innovations that changed international relations were the jet-plane, satellites and the World Wide Web. For example, this means that between 1930 to 1990, average air transport revenue per passenger mile fell from $0.68 to $0.11 (in 1990 dollars) and the cost of 3-minutes call from New York to London fell from $244.65 to $3.32 (and the total volume of international telephone calls more than doubled in just six years during the 1990s, from 33 billion minutes in 1990 to 70 billion minutes in 1996). Next factor of globalization at the end of the 20th century were decreasing trade barriers, lower tariffs and fewer non-tariff trade barriers. For example, by 2000, the average tariffs of developed countries were 3.8%, while developing countries average tariffs were 12.3%. Moreover, a rising population in less-developed and prosperous areas frequently has triggered emigration to areas of economic prospect and the need for energy and industrial raw materials to help developed economies also affected the globalization process by promoting greater flow of goods (and therefore enhanced the interdependence of international economies). Finally, leadership has also contributed to the movement of globalization in the late 20th century. Had the United States (as the worlds leading economic and military power in the 20th century) not committed its public policy to promote an open international economic system, it is probable that the globalization process would have taken a different course an d not necessarily an advantageous one. What is more, the end of the 20th century experienced the rise of new markets that set off globalization which led to the international trade in goods and services figuring up to more than $7 trillion this represents more than $1000 per person which is an astounding figure. But, what was really new was the spectacular rise of a global capital market. This made it relatively easy for anyone with capital to trade anytime and everyday with almost every country of the world. For instance, in 1998, around $1.5 trillion exchanged hands on the worlds currency markets every day. Furthermore, by analysing the 19th century globalization, ORourke and Williamson highlighted the outcomes of the fall in transportation costs. In their opinion, the major fall in transportation costs (firstly lowered by the steamboat, and then lowered even more by the railroads) was the main factor in interconnecting distant markets; the decline in international transport costs after the middle of the century was enormous. When academics analyse this period, they tend to ignore the decline in transportation costs and focus instead on tariffs and international trade. However, tariffs in the world economy did not fall until World War I and therefore the globalization that appeared in the late 19th century cannot be qualified as a consequence of a more liberal trade policy. As a result, the decline in transport costs alone contributed greatly to commodity market integration across the Atlantic economies. What is more, the reasoning above seems controversial to the advocates of the argument that the primary factor driving market integration during the late 19th century was trade policy. Still, although the result of Englands move to free trade did contribute to a more closer market integration, by the end of the 19th century, only few European economies stood firmly in the free trade camp. The commodity prices continued to reduce across distant Atlantic economies during these years and this further shows the relative importance of falling transport costs. Just as the decrease in transport costs expanded commodity market integration, according to Jeffrey Williamson mass migrations also helped to bring about greater wage convergence in the Atlantic economies in the late 19th century. Immigration led to the movement from the labour-full countries of the Old Europe to the labour-limited countries of the New World, and this adjusted wages accordingly (high wages in the New World began to d ecrease and the low wages in the European countries began to increase). The convergence was everywhere in the late 19th century Atlantic economy, as wages and living standards in Europe began to catch up with the wages in the New World countries. In addition, we can also talk about the involvement of technology (e.g. the telegraph), financial institutions (the gold standard), and politics (the relative international political and economic harmony) which have led to capital integration. Lastly, capitalism  has  been  another influence on globalization. In the late 1850s, Karl Marx estimated in 1859 in his Grundrisse der Kritik der Politischen Ekonomie (A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy) that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾capital by its nature drives beyond every spatial barrier to conquer the whole Earth for its market. Global markets of the 19th century offered opportunity to increase profits through higher volumes of sale. In addition, larger production supplied global markets with the assurance of increased profits as a result of the economies of scale. Capitalists admired globalization because it allowed production facilities to be located in places where costs are lowest and earnings greatest. As we can now comprehend, both globalization of the 19th century and the 20th century are rather similar. The main factor behind this phenomenon in these periods was the fall in transport costs. In the 19th century it were the steamboat and rail whereas in the late 20th century it were the plane, satellites and the Internet that reduced the costs of transportation and communication, leading to global interconnection. Also, migration has been a major factor leading to globalization when wages around the world were adjusted. Capitalism has proved to promote the globalization phenomenon in the 19th century as an innovative economic system and in the 20th century, by being a world wide theory of wealth it has done it again. What seems to be the only major difference between the processes of globalization in both centuries is the protective practices of the 19th century countries with only few of them promoting free trade and the late 20th century interdependent world trade market. Howeve r, in the former case, protectionism has proved to be counter-globalizing whereas free-trade policy in the latter case was seen as one of the reasons for globalization. Therefore, although todays globalization that stated in the 20th century differs from the one of the 1800s, the driving forces were more or less the same in both cases.

Analysis of Blinking Hell, a Sight Savers International Campaign Essay

The article 'Blinking Hell' is written for the purpose of informing a number of audiences about an eye disorder existing in economically developing countries. The title of this extract, 'Blinking Hell' carries a double meaning. The Statement 'blinking hell' traditionally serves as an exclamatory comment. For the intention of this article, the author has changed the exclamation to a verb and a noun and the semantics of it become literal. The graphology of the text is like that of a newspaper article, set out in columns with an emboldened title and graphic image. Presumably, this was done in this fashion as it may have featured within a newspaper. Equally, the reasons could have been purely to draw attention to the text. 'Blinking Hell' opens with an exposition giving no clear meaning as to what it's putting across to the reader. By using this short phrase, the author has encouraged the audience to read on and discover its significance. No noun is present in this opening statement and, is instead, immediately substituted for a pronoun. 'At first it's not too bad' In the next paragraph, the writer goes on to describe the behaviour of a child in relation to their eyes. The noun child is used along with the description with average child-like behaviour for certain readers to identify with. The writer is writing this on the basis that most adults have seen a young one perform this action. At the end of this section, verbs and a noun are used within a simple sentence to reveal the main subject of this text piece. 'And that's all it takes to spread trachoma' Throughout the rest of the text, the writer has gone into explicit d... ... written in a biased and un-scientific way as if it was a tabloid article. 'scarring the child's eyelid a little bit more' The noun child has been used to inform the reader of which type of people fall into the category of Trachoma sufferers. The author has chosen only to tell the audience that children are the victims, despite it being a disease that does not discriminate. This device was most probably used to persuade and emotionally involve which is a vital skill for fund raisers of any form. At the end of the article, the author uses persuasive language in the form of a complex sentence as a last attempt to convince the prospective donater. 'Â £5 is all we need for the operation' The verb 'need' is used to show the importance of the operation, thus the importance of the reader donating money to the cause.

First Love by John Clare

First Love â€Å"First Love† by John Clare is a poem that explains something that everyone will usually endure in his or her life; the emotional journey of falling in love for the first time. The brief 24 line poem attacks the emotions of the reader and lures the reader into the poem by envisioning or reminiscing of the reader’s first love. John Clare writes about how he falls in love for the first time and his perspective from the first meeting to the end. The poem is structured with a rhyming scheme of every other line in an abab pattern.The poem is broken into three phases of a first love: the meeting of one’s first love, then the connection and being with the person, and finally the end of the first love. The poem begins with â€Å"I ne'er was struck before that hour. † This opening line suggests that the writer has been struck by love at first sight. He continues to support this with saying how it is sudden and sweet. The implication here is that it i s young first love. With each line, the writer continues to support the next.With the implication of young first love, he supports this youthfulness with a simile writing in the next line; the girls face like a sweet flower. This can be transcribed as a young lady growing up to be a woman. The next two lines express how she took his heart and took his breath away; turning him pale. This was such a shock to him that he could not move and was paralyzed to the point his legs couldn’t move. In addition to shock, he could also mean that he didn’t want to leave or stop looking at here.The last two lines of this stanza, represents when she looks at him, he could do nothing but melt and molded towards being with her. This is the change everyone goes through when falling in love. Your life changes and must adjust to the new relationship. The second stanza begins with â€Å"And then my blood rushed to my face. † He is expressing his feelings stating how he blushes when ar ound his love. A majority of people have been blinded by love. John Clare writes of this loss of vision by stating his eyesight is taken away and could not see a single thing.In addition to the blindness, his reality is distorted when during the day everything else doesn’t matter; a type of tunnel vision for his first love. The mention of his eyes and chords translate to being able to see the love in his eyes so strong it speaks and sings of his heart. The two of them have a connection so strong that words verbally spoken are not necessary. Their connection is translated through words from his eyes. This stanza comes to a transitional close with burning blood around his heart, meaning that his first love has hurt him.The final stanza begins with â€Å"Are flowers the winter's choice? † Like a great deal of poems, one of the seasons is pulled into the poem. However, not in a pleasant way; winter is cold just like his love being cold towards him; poetically the cold shou lder is love’s bed always snow. John Clare is not sure that his love’s listening to him, and feels that he will never find another love like her. The cold shoulder and her not listening to him, has caused pain. This pain feels, to him, like someone ripped his heart from his chest.He ends the poem with a line meaning he can never love again. In conclusion, this poem is a perfect hopeless romantic poem that tells the story of meeting a first love, the connection and being with the person, and finally the end of the first love. The passion and meaning placed in this poem expresses clearly how John Clare feels about his first, last, and only love. I believe that the feelings he places in this poem helps readers relate more than other poems; probably making this one of the most relatable poems ever to a general audience.

The Rights Of Assisted Suicide Essay - 1584 Words

The Right To Die With Dignity Assisted suicide is the act of committing suicide with the help of another person or doctor, most commonly referred to as Physician Assisted Suicide. It is currently legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, California, and Colorado. Considering the increase of people dying from terminal illnesses, assisted suicide should be legalized across the nation. People that suffer from a terminal illness that can’t be cured or treated and will result in death have the right to end their suffering and die with dignity. However, there are people who are against assisted suicide due to religious and moral reasons, others because of their compassion and respect for those who are dying. Although the majority may not agree in making assisted suicide legal in every state, there is an agreement that no one should ever suffer because they are denied the right to stop suffering. Terminally ill patients also have rights just like normal, healthy citizens do and they should not be denied the right to not suffer. People who are against legalizing assisted suicide claim that any physician who helps a person to die would be violating the doctor s Hippocratic oath. They also claim assisted suicide decreases the value of human life, and could lead to non-critical patient to abuse of this method. There are a number of religions that believe that if a person decides to commit suicide, they will end up in hell. This is one of the major reasons why many religiousShow MoreRelatedThe Rights Of Assisted Suicide966 Words   |  4 PagesDying Your Way: The Right to Choose Assisted Suicide Introduction Death has a finality to it that gives even the most cynical person a reason to pause. The possibility of death is always present, the elephant in the room. 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