Quantifying effects of globalisation on nations (1)

The world over, these are tumultuous times. Terrorism and world-shaking events seem to follow one after the other at an astonishing pace. Do you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed and bewildered by it all – that everything around you is changing too fast?

The single word for these changes is called ‘Globalisation.’ This is the term some use to describe the growing worldwide interdependence of people and countries. This process has accelerated dramatically in the past decade or so, largely because of huge advances in technology, especially the use of social media.

According to Martin Wolf, Financial columnist, “Globalisation is the great economic event of our era… it is now bringing unprecedented opportunities to billions of people throughout the world.” This is a plus.

Edward Shevardnadze, president of Georgia, once said: “We, the people of the earth, are one large family. The new epoch offers new challenges and new global problems, such as environmental catastrophes, exhaustion of resources, bloody conflicts and poverty.” Both plus and minus. (Source – Awake magazine, May 22, 2002 edition).

This issue has become a subject of misunderstanding for many because of the haziness and speed at which world events are happening.

Arguably, globalisation has put in more fears as well as hopes in many. However, do you have any reason to fear globalisation? Can you expect it to make your life better? Has globalisation given people reason to be hopeful about the future?

I would want you to take a critical look at the subject, at the end take a stand and let us know. Before we go into the pros and cons of this subject, let us consider the tools being used to make the world a global village.

Some of the common ones are, the TV – many household today own one or two TV sets. No matter how poor the household maybe, compared with when TV first came into Nigeria in the early 70s.

The telephone – I remember some years ago, neighbours queueing up in a house waiting for calls from their loved ones abroad. But today, with the advent of the GSM, people can sit comfortably in their rooms, even toilets to make and receive calls, no matter the distance from the caller.

The internet – it is estimated that about 300,000 new users get hooked to it every week. According to Thomas L. Fridman, “is that never before in the history of the world have so many people been able to learn about so many other people’s lives, products and ideas.” No matter the comfort or maybe the adverse effects we derive from the use of these materials, to many, globalisation is a blessing as it has come to stay.

To Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, “globalisation has enriched the world scientifically and culturally, and benefited many people economically as well.”

According to a source, the growth in trade between nations has contributed to lifting 3 billion people out of poverty over the past 50 years. Reducing tariff barriers, which makes it easier for nations to trade with each other, lifts the wealth of all nations by allowing them to concentrate on those where they have greatest expertise.

Poor countries that have lowered their tariff barriers have gained increases in employment and national income, because labour and capital shifts from import-competing industries to expanding newly competitive export industries. In addition to providing jobs, companies moving to providing jobs, companies moving to developing countries of 10 export higher wages and working conditions compared with those in domestic companies operating in the country.

While wages are often lower in developing countries than those in developed countries, they reflect lower levels of education and productivity. The experience in countries like Nigeria is that as countries develop, their wage level rise and the focus shifts from labour intensive to more capital and knowledge intensive industries.

It is true that there has been some contraction in employment in labour intensive industries such as textiles and footwear in rich countries over the past 20 years, as production has moved to countries in which labour is cheaper. However, this is part of the process of development. It would be condemning less developed countries to even greater poverty to ban and restrict their ability to compete in industries like textiles in rich markets.

The campaigns by unions are allied to those of textile manufacturers in rich countries than they are less concerned with supporting workers’ rights in poor countries than they are with protecting declining industries in rich ones.

In spite of these positive results, some people are still apprehensive that the dangerous effects of globalisation outweigh its benefits. In December 1990, a meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) held in Seattle, United States of America, was interrupted by riot. Police finally arrested hundreds of protesters.

You may ask, what provoked the riot? The protesters were concerned about the degradation of the environment, job insecurity, and social injustice. To put it in a simple form, they were afraid of globalisation, its effect on both human and the environments of the world. World leaders now hold their meetings unannounced in isolated places, why? Because they understand better the negative effects of globalisation.

Globalisation results in the exploitation of millions of workers in the countries that do not give workers rights to organise.

Have you also considered the global trend terrorism has taken recently? Countries that once thrive in tourism are now havens for terrorists attacks. The recent Arab Spring… Globalisation is playing out.

To be continued

OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA