the development of globalization

by Jiajing Tu

When you are watching the latest news or listening to economic podcasts, the word “globalization” might not be an unfamiliar term for you. While it may seem like “globalization” has been around in our daily lives for a long time because of the plentiful common discourses associated with it, it is actually a relatively new term. When you search the term “globalization” in Google’s Ngram Viewer charts (an online search engine that shows the frequencies of any set of search strings during a specific period),  it shows a flat line until the 1980s, then a steep increase of interest during the next two decades. During this period, there are some significant factors that contributed to the development of Globalization.

First of all, technology plays an important role in accelerating the development of globalization. Technological improvement usually leads to better efficiency and lower costs, which is particularly crucial for globalization because it allows companies to globalize their product more rapidly and economically. Through globalization, Apple is able to design its latest iPhone 14 Pro in California, assemble it in Foxconn (a technology manufacturer from Taiwan), in Shenzhen, China, and then distribute it globally through a sophisticated supply chain management system. Besides, the Constant iteration of transportation technology is essential in every aspect of globalization. The appearance of cars, airplanes, trains, and cargo ships transform the limit on animate power, which humans used to rely on, allowing people to send and exchange their products rapidly, economically, and transoceanically. For example, with the popularity of airplanes and cargo ships, which is contributed by technological improvement, companies in the USA could assemble and manufacture their products in China where there have lower labor costs, and send them back across the pacific ocean to the USA to sell for a larger margin because of the higher labor cost in the USA. This process is unachievable with the animate power, which humans used to rely on. Therefore, when technology iterates constantly, the development of globalization is pushed forward constantly.

In addition, political factors have largely contributed to globalization. Political policy usually could pave the road for the economy to strive, globalization is not an exemption either. Political policy increases the bonds between different countries and leads to the growing interdependence of the world’s economies. A good example is the establishment of the World Trade Organization, known as WTO. Since the WTO is an intergovernmental organization, it could effectively regulate and facilitate international trade. Motivated by profit, many countries desire to build an economical connection with other countries: developing countries provide low labor costs while developed countries provide business deals, leading to more job opportunities. At this point, WTO provides a bridge and supervisor that connects two different countries to regulate and supervise their international trade. Many countries, at the same time, have benefited greatly from joining the WTO, particularly China. When China joined the WTO on 11 December 2001, it marked an important moment for China’s economy. Benefiting from a large labor force and sophisticated people management, “Made in China” products have won the favor of many countries, making China the title of the world’s factory. From that, China’s economy was embarking on a speeding train. Thus, political policy paves a vital road for the development of the economy by ensuring the stability of the process of globalization. 

Overall, globalization has had a huge impact on the world today, and people are affected by it everywhere and at all times. At the same time, globalization is also affected by many factors from our daily lives, including technology improvement and political policy. Although globalization also has some negative impacts, such as causing large wealth gaps, causing job replacement, and causing the lack of local business, globalization could continue to contribute to the global economy and social condition with the proper regulations and measurements.

Works Cited Page

Kolb, Melina. “What Is Globalization?” PIIE, October 24, 2022. https://www.piie.com/microsites/globalization/what-is-globalization.

MasterClass, MasterClass. “How Globalization Works: Pros and Cons of Globalization – 2022.” MasterClass, 2022. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-globalization-works-pros-and-cons-of-globalization.

Smil, Vaclav. “Understanding Globalization.” Essay. In How the World Really Works: The Science behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going. New York: Viking, 2022.