The winners and losers of globalization is a complex theme and the risk for one group can be the opportunity for another group as similar to the trash of one is a treasure to other. So, here I have summed up the concepts in reference to the readings of Chapters 1, 7, and 8 of The Butterfly Defect.
There always has been some sort of inequality between and within countries mostly in the economy. Globalization has produced different results in different contexts and countries. It definitely has helped in the economic growth of the world but also has contributed to inequalities. One of the systematic risks resulting from economic globalization is social stability. When on the one hand economic globalization is so important to decrease the disparities in the world, it has widened the inequalities between social groups. And with the rise in globalization, statistics have shown that overall inequality is decreasing because of the rapid economic growth in developing countries but is increasing within a country because of the early and late adopters.
The flow of goods and resources including migration has benefitted the economy of almost all countries to a certain extent. Statistics show that mostly the capital owners and high-income countries followed by middle-income countries are more benefitted from economic globalization. The global middle class is the one with visible economic growth. Citizens feel less controlled by their government and situation due to globalization. This means that even low investors or anyone in search of a job can have a wider horizon and can embrace new opportunities. Also, globalization has become an opportunity for mostly those who have sufficient knowledge and skill
Whereas people who cannot adapt to new technologies are left behind. When new technologies are accessible at lower cost, more low-income people can afford them which can be seen as an opportunity. This directly or indirectly can improve their living standard whereas for the elderly population adaptation to new technologies can be harsh and they are lagging behind.
There still are people who are not benefitted from economic globalization; particularly poor people. For these social groups, globalization is in fact a risk. The fact that inequalities within the country (rich and poor) increasing is evidence of this. The wages have increased for the top earners but not for the low-wage earners. Also, the substitution of technology for workers has further created a risk among the poor. New technology is only useful to those who can actually operate and employ it but not to those who cannot afford to buy and learn to use it. Examples of such within countries inequality are the USA, Brazil, India, and China.
Economic globalization not only means more opportunities, but it also is a higher global competition to grab those opportunities. So, it’s always hard for people with low ability, skill, and investment in the first place. Moreover, it also is a risk to a society that lacks intergenerational mobility like in the USA, UK, and Italy which prevents resourceful people from achieving the rewards they deserve.
The risk and opportunities resulting from the inequalities are also related to the diffusion theory. Some social groups can afford to take up the new innovation immediately whereas the poor & vulnerable are usually the last ones to follow.
Let’s take an example here, if a new technology says the internet is introduced in an office, a person who has the skill to use the internet/ computer or the one who can afford to learn to use it through training gets the job not the one without knowledge or money to get the training to use it. This explains even for the improvement in income one needs to have the basic prerequisite.
So, to conclude the social group that has seen economic globalization as an opportunity are those who have somehow little control over their resources; those belonging to middle-income and high-income social groups. But the ones with poor economic conditions (limited resources like skills, and education), living in remote areas, are more at risk.
References
Bank, W. (2013). World Development Report 2014: Risk and opportunity: managing risk for development. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Bettcher, D. (2009). International public health instruments. In R. Detels, R. Beaglehole, M. A. Lansang, & M. Gulliford (Eds.), (5th ed ed., Vol. Vol. 1, pp. 368-382). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bøås, M., & McNeill, D. (2003). Multilateral institutions: A critical introduction. London: Pluto Press.
Goldin, I., & Mariathasan, M. (2014). The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks, and What to Do about It: Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Heymann, D. L. (2009). Emerging and re-emerging infections. In R. Detels, R. Beaglehole, M. A. Lansang, & M. Gulliford (Eds.), (5th ed. ed., Vol. Vol. 1, pp. 1264-1273). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Prisoner’s Dilemma in the Doctor’s Office. (2016). Retrieved from http://blogs.cornell.edu/info2040/2016/09/04/prisoners-dilemma-in-the-doctors-office/