The Power of Productivity by William Lewis

The Australian Government participated in the reduction of trade barriers as part of the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (GATT). As a result there have been pressures on the above mentioned industries that were previously protected. They have effectively become, or are becoming, casualties of what is termed ‘a race to the bottom’ between national governments as they attempt to attract investment by undercutting competition.[vi] The industries without protection are inefficient and thus profit is affected forcing firms to shift elsewhere or outsource in search of improving efficiencies.

Ever since the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the media’s top priority every day is covering any and all terrorism. By all acounts, 9-11 remains the single most deadly attack ever on American soil, however terror attacks declined over the last twenty years. Despite the decline in terror activity, media coverage continues to report at an all-time high. Thus, every major news entity worldwide continually provides around the clock terrorism coverage. Deadly carnage streams on a time loops constantly, gruesome amputations and gun shot wounds appear on tvs around the world. The grotesque footage decencitizes millions of people and promotes and kind of glamourizes terrorism. The tv coverage causes wide spread fear, panic, and

Economists use the term “potential output” or “potential gross domestic product (GDP)” to describe the economy’s maximum sustainable level of economic activity as determined by growth in the potential labor force and growth in labor productivity. The potential labor force, in turn, grows through native population growth and immigration, while labor productivity grows through business investment in tangible capital (machines, factories, offices, and stores) as well as investments in R&D and other intangible capital. Improvements in labor quality through education and training can also boost productivity, as can improvements in managerial efficiency or technology that allow businesses to produce more with the same amount of labor and capital.

Trade is an engine of growth; it has many effects and benefits that can help to grow the economy on a global scale. The benefits of trade can be viewed in different perspectives depending on the view that is taken the benefits and the receivers change. Trade can be viewed from the perspective of the economic nationalist, which argues that protectionism is a need to help grow the states economy and power. While in another approach trade can be seen as positive sum game by the means of comparative advantage through the lens of liberalism. Lastly there are some that argue that specialization of goods is a way to increase productivity and economic growth. The focus of my paper will be to present these perspectives on and suggest

On one hand, it can be argued that by partaking within these mass production trade systems, one nation can develop economically by providing mass produced products at low prices due to cheap labor and material costs. Here is where things seem to become clouded, the free trade agreement between different countries. It is this agreement that allows different countries to import and export goods with the reduction and or elimination of tariffs. (Globalization Pt. II). However, this hinders all countries on a global scale, as the promotion and exploitation of these unjust working conditions are used to keep under developed countries from achieving a higher quality of

Imposing barriers is a policy passed by the government to discourage imports from the foreign countries. Since every government has a responsibility to safeguard the wellbeing of its people, it is very importation for government to quickly take care of situations where the country is not necessarily profiting from international trade and take required actions as quickly as possible. Restrictions on overseas companies are tend to protect country’s own interest. There are so many reasons why sovereign government impose barriers. Some reasons are as follows.

Imperialism as a driving force behind the structures of capitalism and consumerism has stood as an extremely powerful tool taken on by many influential economic world powers. The occidentalist concept of importing goods for consumption from less developed peripheral nations, in recent history, has become a concept with heavy influence. This idea of creating a production dichotomy has become foundational to the modern and increasingly connected world and its means of efficient production by trade; unfortunately, this often results in imperialistic oppression to exacerbate this neoliberal concept’s effects of efficiency and productivity. To have maximum possible efficiency output, workers in developing nations under capitalist forces are

* The relationship between the amount of labor & capital employed and the law of diminishing marginal productivity

A country’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services, which in turn depends on its productivity. The productivity which is a function of the education of workers and the access workers have to the necessary tools and

Protectionism by way of the price mechanisms such as tariffs, subsides, quotas, export licences and import duties (Rugman, 2009) are just some of the measures which can seriously impact on a foreign company. For example the American steel industry was afforded protection under the Bush administration when large tariffs were imposed on foreign steel imports in order to safeguard the jobs of the national steel workers (Mankiw and Taylor, 2008).

He pointed out that different economic levels have their own requirements and they may not follow the same process of industrialization. Moreover, he raised the most influential theory related to late industrialization that the economically backward states may have rapider growth rate as they are late comers, and the national development process relied on the degree of economic backwardness. That is to say the more backward a country, the faster it will advance (ibid).

A country is said to be more productive than another country, if it can produce more output (goods) for a given quantity of input, such as labour or energy inputs. An example is that there are only two countries, Australia and Japan. They both produce computers and wine, and only one factor of production, labour. Japan produces 6 computers for every 1 bottle of wine, where as Australia produces only 4 computers for every 3 bottles of wine. This suggests that Australia should export some of its wine to Japan, and Japan should export some of its computers to Australia. Australia has an absolute advantage over Japan, when producing wine, and Japan has an absolute advantage over Australia, when producing computers (Gandolfo, 1998).

The world has changed over the last ten years, technology has created a new world, where we have become more dependent on it. In his article, “The Eight Net Gen Norms”, Don Tapscott, discusses what he believes the “net generation” is and how they are defined by eight norms: Freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation. (132) Tapscott makes some very unique observations, but there was one norm, I felt was more important, innovation. There are many reasons why, but the one main reason is the creation of new ideas. Without the innovated ideas, we wouldn’t have the advanced technology we possess today. Think about the world without cell phones, no web, or no medical tools? We know for a fact this era couldn’t survive without them. The workplace is starting to turn from the traditional way by allowing the employees to be heard, but there is still a gap between generations. The power of innovation helps people with everyday life, changing the way jobs are running, but also has created a rift between the old and new generations.

The key important role of government intervene in international trade is interest to protect the domestic producers in their country. Political arguments concerned with protecting the interests of one group, which are producers often at the expense of another within a nation, which are consumers. First, government should protect jobs and

In the face of intensified global competition and liberalised trade, productivity has emerged as a key indicator of successful restructuring and upgrading by firms and industries. Traditionally, productivity growth has been regarded as one of the main sources of income growth, along with the factors such as capital accumulation and the deepening of human capital development. Over the past two decades, liberalisation has become an important part of many countries' development strategies. The present study analyses the review of earlier studies on productivity