Globalization And Its Discontents : Book Review II

When it comes to globalization, everyone may have a different vision of it’s outcome. For Marcelo Gleiser, the author of “Globalization: Two visions of the Future of Humanity”, a completely globalized world may result in a dystopia. In contrast, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, the author of “A Mickey Mouse Approach to Globalization” and Tanveer Ali, the creator of “The Subway Falafel Sandwich and the Americanization of Ethnic Food” may think of globalization as other cultures sharing each other’s components to interact on a new level and spurring a more “open-minded” (Ali 27) individual.

Argentina is a well known case study of the failure or negative outcome of some IMF's standard policies. In fact, Argentina carefully applied policies dictated by IMF, but, until it stuck up with those policies, it couldn't step out from its crisis, and it ran into even deeper economic and social problems. This failure of the IMF has often been cited as the demonstration of unsuitability of the standard IMF approach (the usual so-called Washington Consensus) for solving economic crisis in developing countries (Serra & Stiglitz, 2008, p. 44). Also, this failure led to hostile feelings versus IMF among the population of Argentina (Kanenguiser, 2000) and fueled generalised suspects over IMF decision-making process being politicized and serving

In his article “Globalization: Two Visions Of The Future Of Humanity”, Marcelo Gleiser states that there are two possible outcomes of the process of globalization. At first, he predicts that world can turn into a true global village due to the development of technology, traveling, trade and Internet. However, Gleizer explains that it is not easy to foresee unknown and questions how much this “scientific utopia” (8) is realistic, when considering politics and culture. Then, he argues that globalization cannot be achieved due to “evolved tribal nature” (9) of humanity, even though it is implied as the process which will diminish any barrier between various cultures. He states there is no doubt that trade and travel barriers will disappear by

In the article by Evelyn Hu-Dehart it focuses on the issue of globalization and its effects in different cities but first all the author gives us a explanation to understand what is globalization. Globalization in the words of Hu-Dehart was the "neoliberalism's New World Order..."(pg. 245) where all Mexican citizens were falling under the ruling of the party Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI). In the same article by Evelyn Hu-Dehart, "Globalization and its Discontents" she gaves us the definition of NAFTA which is the North American Free Trade Agreement that was signed by United States, Canada and Mexico (pg. 244). This concept of definition and NAFTA have a strong connection to the Zapatista movement in Chiapas because the same day

Migration in developing countries is often seen as a way of development through the stimulation of global currency within the country. Specifically throughout the Philippines, it is more common for migrant workers to be female, resulting in the overall structure and dynamics of these families to change. In the novel, Servants of Globalization, author Rhacel Parreñas addresses how the pre-existing structure of gender expectations and unequal employment opportunities for male and females abroad influence the overall gender patterns and impacts of migration from the Philippines, ultimately affecting the dynamics of families as they become transnational and challenging the pre-existing gender ideologies within the countries.

Lending institutions like the IMF and World Bank, which are central to economic globalization, offer loans to developing countries with conditions. These conditions were set in order to “restore or maintain balance of payments’ viability and macroeconomic stability, while setting the stage for sustained, high quality growth,” according to the textbook. The conditions of the loans the IMF provided to Jamaica included deregulation policies. These policies eventually proved to be dysfunctional in the context of the Jamaican economy and hindered the

There is controversy over when globalization began because there is no crystal clear start to globalization. Some people believe that globalization started when the Buddhist leader Chandragupta combined aspects of trade, religion, and military to create a protected trading area. Others believe that globalization began under Genghis Khan’s rule. The Mongolian warrior-ruler created an empire that had trade integrated into it. There are also some experts that believe that the rise of globalization was linked to 1492, the year Christopher Columbus made his first trip to the New World.

Throughout, there is a keen sense that the IMF is completely guided by ideology which is focused on the free market and the markets’ ability to guide the economy properly at all times. It would seem that all those who work at the IMF are misguided and/or towing the party line in the form of the Washington Consensus. Moreover, of greater concern is perhaps that throughout this piece, it would seem that the World Bank could do no wrong. Stiglitz portrays himself and the World Bank as the white knight(s) who were championing the rights of those who could not fight for themselves against the US government, the US Treasury and even the Federal Reserve. He does so with little regard to any policies or actions that these organizations have done for positive reasons or with positive results. He displays unwavering support for governments to stimulate aggregate demand via social spending, so it is surprising that he is so punitive towards Western governments.

The rise of globalization following WWII generated three important factors that define today’s world. McNeill and McNeill agree with Pollard, Rosenberg, and Tignor that multiple economic changes, such as the creation of financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contributed to the globalization of the world economy. Carter and Warren further this argument by claiming that globalization has caused shifts in the modern economy, namely the rise of Asian economic powers. However, all three historians agree that the rise of globalization goes hand in hand with the rise of inequality in today’s world. Gaps in power, wealth, and access to information have only widened due to the trend of globalization. The final key factor defining our world today are the ongoing processes affecting development countries. McNeill and McNeill argue similarly to Carter and Warren that the end of imperialism generated new nations who quickly realized the free market was a pathway to stability. However, Pollard et al. and McNeill and McNeill place importance on financial institutions like the IMF forcing developing nations to reform their economies to be subservient to the world’s economy. Together, these historians argue that the trend of globalization following WWII caused factors like the modern global economy, the rise in inequality, and the development of new, decolonized nations to be key determiners in the world today.

There are many ways to look at and understand modern globalization. In general terms, globalization means that the world, as a whole, is leading to a more utopian society, meaning that the globe is become very interconnected and similarities are growing between different regions and cultures of the world. Globalization is a phenomenon that has been evolving since before 10,000 B.C. This constant evolution can cause many problems, but it can also solve many issues positively as well. Development of any country, however, seems to be a key issue when discussing globalization. Globalization and development present two different factors in the world today. Many countries are lacking in their own development while the world around them is becoming more developed and globalized. Globalization hinders development because with globalization, less developed countries depend on more developed countries to help them to sustainability and self-reliance.

Globalization is defined as a worldwide development, the process of spreading ideas. More recently, globalization has become more focused on economics, the spreading of capitalism and opening international trade. Globalization through the past 50 years has developed a bad reputation, one that does not benefit countries the way people thought it would. Joseph E. Stiglitz, in his book, Globalization and Its Discontents, stresses that modern globalization is a good thing, but has not been done correctly in the past few decades. The ideas behind globalization have the potential to benefit the world, specifically developing countries. Stiglitz goes into detail about how the problem falls with the misguided attempts of the international economic institutions to solve developing countries’ economic problems. Something has gone very wrong with globalization, and the purpose of this book is to shed some light on where it went wrong. Stiglitz presents the problems with the international economic institutions’ damaging policies and their effects using ethnographic field work and historically comparative methods.

Harvard Business School’s Case Study “Aid, Debt Relief, and Trade: An agenda for fighting World Poverty” outlines the steps, and missteps, that the world community has taken since World War II to address the efficacy of international assistance. The study focuses on international financial institutions (IFIs) and their ability to help poor nations break out of poverty and the possible obligations of rich, developed countries to assist the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). Additionally, the study seeks to see if this assistance has been and can be parlayed into growth and investment for the HIPCs.

The Indonesian economic crises that emerged out of the greater Asian Financial Crises of 1997 is often presented as an example of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) project that created problems for the receiving nation. As the video Globalization at a Crossroads stated in its final words, “It supported the case that economic globalization actually increased economic instability.” Indeed, there were immediate, and in some cases, irreversible consequences of the IMF’s intervention into Indonesia’s economy. Examples of negative consequences included riots, massive inflation and contraction in the economy (Shari, 1998). However, through the lens of the current Indonesian economy, almost 20 years later, IMF intervention may have eventually worked as intended, as the country has demonstrated economic stability and growth through several more contemporary economic crises.

Up to now the literature review has given an insight into the concept of globalization, and the understanding of several academics in the light of how this phenomenon developed over the years. It is then essential to cover what the economic benefits of globalization are, and how these may impact a sector or company. Most of the literature study’s that have been written on the economic benefits of globalization have been after 2006. The reason is because the studies used the globalization index which was created by Dreher (2006) then further developed by Dreher (2008) again. Many of the empirical studies used this index as indicator as a base to form their findings.

1.The international financial institutions (IFIs) are central pillars and the architects of the global economy. The world bank and IMF were founded and funded by the United states after the second world war to build shattered world economy after the war and great depression of the 1930s (socialist alternative,). The creation of the IFIs was to bring about a global economy after the “isolation economy” which some argue brought about the Second World War. The IFIs were to help the economy of the less developing countries (LDCs) to bring about growth and development, a phenomenon known as globalization.