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Economic globalization is the unifying of all the economic systems and markets worldwide. The world obviously is nowhere near true globalization, but countries are making huge strides towards it. There is a premise that globalization makes rich countries richer and poor countries poorer. However, I do not agree with this. Firstly, it is true that the rich may very well get richer by globalization. It opens up new investment opportunities and new growth and if they are wise they can benefit financially. Take the recent boom in emerging markets.
It is mainly the rich who have access to invest in these markets, and thus, the rich get richer. I would argue, however, that globalization has a very strong force to actually make the rich poorer. For example, there has been much talk about outsourcing and that it is bad for America because American Jobs get moved abroad. Now those Americans who have had their Jobs outsourced are certainly poorer, and in this scenario the Americans are the rich so once again the rich got poorer. The idea that the poor get poorer is in cost ways unfounded.
Sweat-shops are an example of a terrible characteristic of globalization. Nevertheless, the use of sweat-shops is declining thanks to consumer pressure. Additionally, sweat-shops are a function of the governments of the countries in which they exist. It is not globalization fault that people are treated poorly in a country, but rather it is the fault of that government for not looking out for the welfare of its people. Beyond that, though, I believe globalization is helping the poor get richer.
To start, take the example in the previous paragraph and reverse it. While Americans losing their Jobs get poorer, workers in other countries get richer. Multinational corporations are finding these developing countries provide very appealing investment opportunities and so they are putting their money into these countries, by so doing, helping them to grow and enriching their citizens. Globalization typically leads to the industrialization of countries that have not been industrialized and makes the world a better place for everyone.