The basic concept that globalization protestors miss is rooted in the economic fundamentals that have made America, Europe and parts of Asia so successful in the 20th century. Mass production proved to be more economical than individual entrepreneurs producing their own similar products and selling them. Not only were the products made more inexpensively, but some of the savings were then passed onto consumers. Furthermore, mass production allowed for higher quality control, because every item should be identical. Therefore, consumers and producers alike benefited from mass production.

This concept is very closely linked to economies of scale. A company can do well mass producing its products in California, but if it has customers in New York, there are decisions that need to be made about the strategy. Should they build another manufacturing facility in New York, and in every other state they have customers? Or should they put their manufacturing facility in a strategic location to minimize costs and maximize location, and then create a distribution network to deliver their goods to their customers? While there are instances where more than one manufacturing facility are used, this extreme example demonstrates the concept of economies of scale. In most cases, it is more economical to have one or a small number of manufacturing facilities and build a distribution network.

So globalization is merely economies of scale, globally. A company would not move their production to another country if it was not perceived as economical to do so. Then when they are producing their goods and lower costs, the savings are, at least in part, passed onto the consumers.

The big issue people have with globalization is, of course, the loss of jobs, and this is not a moot point. However, globalization and the advance of technology is creating jobs that are higher-skilled and more significant to Americans than the labor-intensive jobs being lost to Asia and other parts of the world. Remember that ancient peoples spent most of their days hunting, gathering or farming food to nourish their bodies. With specialization, some people were able to continue producing food, while others picked up skills and created other goods such as clothing, tools and weapons. Advance this progress several hundred years, and you have globalization. Let the poor countries take our hard labor, we can move on to office positions, entrepreneurial endeavors, and creative pursuits.

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