by Jonte Rhodes

Created on: October 11, 2008   Last Updated: March 20, 2009

Globalisation in theory will benefit everyone over a long enough time period, although in practice this is rarely the case, and often many people suffer instead. For example if the company you work for decides to expand or relocate overseas you might lose your job and have to find a new line of work. This will probably be the same for hundreds of others however, and finding a new job will then become extremely difficult.

In theory when one kind of industry dries up and leaves mass unemployment in one area, then more modern industries replace it. So for example if agricultural jobs become scarce, then office or business type jobs will expand and reemploy those left without a job. However, even if this might be the case in the country as a whole, certain areas are often simply left with no industry and very few jobs in them. A good example of this might be towns that grew as a result of large scale mining in the area, but that now have very few opportunities and no other large-scale employment.

Also if for some reason a country needs to reinvigorate some of its industries, then it is incredibly difficult to retrospectively do so. This can then often pave the way for other foreign companies to exploit even advanced and otherwise rich countries. A good example of this can be something as simple as the growth of certain crops. If a new country can grow these crops for cheaper than your own, then usually your own growers will go out of business. After a few years this industry ceases to exist in your own country, and the land that was used for this purpose is used for other things.

Dealing with a foreign country for your entire supply of this crop then becomes the norm, and everything is going well. However the day might come that the price is suddenly increased massively, and without negotiation. If this crop is something that is needed badly enough, then the higher price will have to be paid, and you are essentially over a barrel. Without any means for growth of this crop yourself, then you are stuck without any leverage to make prices drop.

One of the long-term drawbacks from globalisation for the nations that initially benefit is that they can be held back from developing their own infrastructure. For example if you look at the world banking industry, the biggest banks in the world are all either European, American and to a lesser degree Asian. These banks in most cases have been around for hundreds of years, and have in most cases expanded to such an extant that

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>