Globalization Is a Complex Phenomenon

Globalization is a complex phenomenon that is often misunderstood. Part of this trend deals with a movement toward more integrated economic and political systems. Much of the globalization trend has been driven by technological innovations that allow for greater communication, information sharing, travel, and other items that have allowed people to share different items across the globe. However, it is often thought that globalization is a new trend yet historical figures such as Marco Polo helped to spread globalization through his encounters with asbestos and gunpowder in China. The Dutch were the first civilization that set up something of a multinational corporation with expansive international trade routes. The movement of goods and trade between areas has been at the backbone of globalization for quite a while. However, it is perceived as a modern trend since it has accelerated at an unprecedented pace over the last few decades.

In more recent years, some international corporations have reached such vast sizes that there revenues are greater than the total budgets of many countries. When international corporations are allowed to move freely they able to access to foreign resources and labor then they can often achieve much higher profit margins. In some cases this can also help the local economy by providing jobs to individuals who were unlikely to find employment before the local region became globalized. When foreign investment enters new parts of the world then this can often stimulate the local economy and provide more opportunities for the people within the developing country.

Yet, in many other cases the injection of foreign investments does not improve the quality of life for the local residents. The results of such developments are largely mixed in regard to actually improving the welfare of their foreign employees. Apple, for example, outsources much of their production to a vendor known as Foxconn in China whose working conditions are so severe that the company has actually installed a suicide prevention netting around their buildings to keep employees from jumping to their deaths. Hebron & Stack have pointed out that Nobel Prize winning economist Joesph Stiglitz has identified one of the attributes of what improves the quality of life for the indigent population as being whether the movement was "homegrown"; that is the local residents welcome the changes. Others such as Tulchin and Bland argue that areas without adequate rule of law many corporations take advantage of the local population and corruption is rampant and the locals are not able to demand accountability from their governments.