MY COMMENTS


This cartoon explains the effect globalisation has on the world. This also tie in with the previous article about the increasing, or rather decreasing gap between the world's rich nations and the poor nations. This cartoon shows a scale, with a family of white people on one side, balacing a group of Africans on the other side.

This shows how, what a normal family in the West earns, can be considered enough for whole tribe of African people. The huge leap forward by the West has made this gap huge. This needs to be reduced, and as proven before, it is happening. This also shows the effect of globalisation on the economy. The Africans on the right can be seen to be nothing more then skin and bones, however, the family of white people on the left seem to be..plump at least. This can be interpreted as the family being more well fed and taken care of then the guys on the right.

I find it really interesting that the 4 people on the left seem to be wearing tourist clothes, while the people on the right are wearing barely enough. This shows the attitude of the West towards this situation. They seem to the on-lookers of this event.

This shows the attitude that globalisation has fostered over the years. Since the progress of the West, the rest of the world ha been trying to catch up. The West, caught up with its sudden progress, did not bother about the increasing gap, and only tried to do something about it when it got out of hand. This attitude has to change, if not the country's sake, then for humanity's sake.

Top YouTube contributors can become partners

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The video-sharing Web site YouTube announced Thursday that the providers of some of its most popular user-generated content have been given the opportunity to become its financial partners -- and actually make money from their videos.
Between 20 and 40 users have been offered partnership agreements, the site said, similar to those YouTube has with professional content providers like CBS and NBC. The networks are paid a portion of the advertising revenue their material attracts.
The opportunities allow the site to recognize and reward the creativity of the YouTube community, Jamie Byrne, YouTube's product marketing director, told CNN.
"User-generated content has evolved from simple amateur video into high-quality work that is massing subscribers and creating user celebrities," he said.
YouTube said in a statement that because the users "have built and sustained large persistent audiences through the creation of engaging videos, their content has become attractive for advertisers, which has helped them earn the opportunity to participate on YouTube as a partner."
Partnership agreements were offered to users based on monthly viewer statistics and name recognition.
YouTube wouldn't disclose the details of the agreements, but said the content providers will be paid based on the number of times their videos are watched. The agreement doesn't prevent the filmmakers from posting videos on other Web sites.

My Comments

This article speaks about how YouTube has offerred a partnership deal to video contributors who have high viewership numbers. This is due to the fact that advertisers are showing more interest in these videos, as there is a higher possibility of them reaching out to their target audience.

YouTube has millions of videos on its site, ech of which has its own viewership. What started off as an humble idea to be able to share videos with people from all over the world has now become a money making juggernaught. With the increase in popularity, there was an increase inthe amount of investment being put into the site. Now, YouTube is actually offering the people who attract the most people to their videos to become financial partners. This shows how, with the internet, anything is posible (sorry for the cliche). People who are living in places like Estonia can now earn money using good quality videos that people watch, using a website founded by an American, funded by various international companies. This is globalisation at work right here.

With globalisatio, much of the world has become interlinked, much so the economic world. The economy of one coutry is largely reliant on another, as is that one on another. This leads to such an interlinked world that a small blip in the controls in one country, would lead to a major economic breakdown in the whole world. YouTube is an example of an organisation where there is a dependance on other organisations, probably not from America itself, to be able to survive.

Globalisation's Economic Benefits

Pro globalisation
International trade and investment have been the engines of world growth over the past 50 years. The tonnes of goods traded around the world have grown by 16 times since 1950, reflecting the lowering of tariff barriers. The growth of trade in services is even greater.

The benefits of that growth have been shared. The countries that are getting poorer are those that are not open to world trade, notably many nations in Africa. China’s opening to world trade has brought it growth in income from $1460 a head in 1980 to $4120 by 1999. In 1980, American’s earned 12.5 times as much as the Chinese, per capita. By 1999, they were only earning 7.4 times as much. The gap between rich and poor is also shrinking with most nations in Asia and Latin America.

Many people believe that exports create jobs, and imports cost jobs and that it therefore makes sense to have barriers against imports. This thinking led to the Great Depression in 1930, because so many countries had erected barriers against imports that global trade fell with catastrophic consequences.

Most exports also use some imports. To take a simple example, a country might export packaged sugar, but import the packets. Lowering import barriers makes export industries even more efficient and competitive in world markets. Countries that lower trade barriers concentrate their national energies in industries they are good at, where they have an international advantage. Import barriers encourage countries to focus efforts in industries where they do not have any advantage. It leads to wasteful and lazy investment. There is evidence that developing countries that erect barriers to imports have slower growth in incomes than those that are open to trade.

Companies of all sizes are involved in world trade – the benefits do not just flow to large multi-nationals. In most trading nations, raging from Thailand to France, small firms employing less than 200 people account for between 10 and 25% of exports.

http://www.globalisationguide.org/04.html

My Comments

This article talks about the creation of jobs in the 'poor' countries through globalisation. The fact that the gap between 'poor' countries and the richer ones was increasing is something that cannot be denied. However, due to globalisation, it seems that the gap is decreasing at an increasing rate.

This is very interesting, as globalisation's advantages are at show here. Firstly, the point of protectionism is brought up here. Protectionism was a policy where the country tended to protect its own goods by imposing high taxes on outside goods. This was seen as the most profitable way to earn money by a country, as their local goods earn a lot for their economy. No money is being pumped back into any other country's economy. This theory is also shown as being a bit flawed here.

Globalisation has allowed for poor countries to close the gap between them and the bigger and richer countries. This is through the easier means of setting up a business in other countries. Smaller countries are opening up their trade, making businesses choose the logical choice in setting up their businesses at a cheaper place. Such an idea would have been preposterous in the past, however, it is very possible today due to the positive impacts of globalisation. As the saying goes, 'It's a small world after all'. With the world shrinking due to the impacts of globalisation, its becoming more and more easier to communicate with people from the other side of the world.

On the other hand, globalisation is not all about the good parts. As this link shows, China's currency, the yuan, had actually depreciated in the early days of their reform. China's progress was slow, but still substantial. China's economic growth has greatly influenced the whole world, with many trying to play catch up. The American stranglehold on international trade is being threatened to a certain extent, and this is also a major concern for the Americans. This compunds their fears that they are losing out to the Asians in many aspects of life, from their jobs to their culture.

M.Balaji

Knee-jerk reaction

Globalization is exposing social fissures between those with the education, skills, and mobility to flourish in an unfettered world market—the apparent "winners"—and those without. These apparent "losers" are increasingly anxious about their standards of living and their precarious place in an integrated world economy. The result is severe tension between the market and broad sectors of society, with governments caught in the middle. Compounding the very real problems that need to be addressed by all involved, the kneejerk rhetoric of both sides threatens to crowd out rational debate. From the United States to Europe to Asia, positions are hardening. Author Dani Rodrik brings a clear and reasoned voice to these questions.Has Globalization Gone Too Far? takes an unblinking and objective look at the benefits—and risks—of international economic integration, and criticizes mainstream economists for downplaying its dangers. It also makes a unique and persuasive case that the "winners" have as much at stake from the possible consequences of social instability as the "losers." As Rodrik points out, ". . . social disintegration is not a spectator sport—those on the sidelines also get splashed with mud from the field. Ultimately, the deepening of social fissures can harm all."

This is a book review I found online on this website . Globalisation has been a touchy subject for some, due to the harmful effects it has on the world. The places of the major players in the world are at stake, as globalisation has more or less made the playing field the same for all. This sudden change in the system is not welcome, and as seen in this review, it creates some knee jerk reactions which might be seen as aggressive. This is how globalisation has affected this world, with a sudden change, it has made the world a place where every move is being scrutinised increasingly. Globalisation has made a huge impact on this world, and it is sure to have a even more impressive effect as the days go past.

Balaji
Economic Expert

Globalisation. Economy.

Economy is one aspect of the world that is directly affected by globalisation. With technology, the world has become smaller. As the world becomes smaller and it becomes easier to communicate with one another, man-made bondaries are rendered useless. What was once top-secret is now public property. This is especially so for the economics of a country. This is clearly reflected in the outbreak of Worl War II. The spark for this war was the collapse of the stock market in America. What happened in America managed to travel across the Pacific to shock the whole world.

In this article, the matter of outsourcing of work is in focus. The pretext to this article would be the fact that with the emergece of Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs), low-end jobs flocked to these countries from the More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs). There was much hullabaloo over this, as the workers in these MEDCs were left jobless. The effect of this could be seen worldwide, as relationships soured between these countries.

Now, not only are low-end jobs going to these countries with cheaper manpower, the high end ones are also going there. This is a sure way of seeing the effects of globalisation. Without the ability to communicate cross boundaries, it would not have been possible for companies to outsource their workers. Globalisation made the world smaller and companies are taking advantage of this.

Economics and globalisation are very closely linked. The effect of globalisation is very quickly observed in any economy. The works of one country, will affect another one soon, if not the next moment.

Watch this space.
M.Balaji
Economic Expert