What is your Globalization Stance?

What is your Globalization Stance?
Created by: Shannon Campbell 

December 15, 2012

Article Link: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/changing-views-of-globalizations-impact/?hp

Everyone has his or her own independent views on globalization. Whether it ranges from a positive to a negative stance, there is a lot of debate on the issue and its factors. According to “Behind the New View of Globalization”, written for The New York Times by Edward Allen, economists have went back and forth regarding specifically on the issue of job loss and it’s correlation with globalization and its factors.

Many economists tried to put the focus on factors of “skill-biased technical change” on the reasoning behind job loss for the past few years. This simply states that machines and computers are replacing human bodies in the workplace. But now, more and more economists are switching to the main reason of job loss being globalization. The article states various statistics that support this reasoning, such as the stagnant job growth in the manufacturing sector from 1990 to 2008. It also states other research, such as regions that compete with China, had “higher unemployment, lower labor force participation, and lower wages than might otherwise be expected”.

Personally, I have mixed reviews on the article. Although I do agree with the fact the manufacturing jobs are at an all-time loss, I see the upside in more jobs being available in the technological field. Society today is technology-based, which only makes sense that more jobs are being available in companies and organizations that specialize in phones, computers, and other gadgets. Sure, it takes manufacturing jobs to produce them, but it takes many more workers to organize, market, and sell these products. And in present times, more workers are needed in the healthcare and education fields than years before. I see it as being an equal trade-off regarding the job-loss issue. International trade has also brought countries such as the United States much more readily-available and cheaper goods and products, as well as open up new export markets that have helped poorer countries around the world develop because of the demand.

What do you think? Has globalization had a more positive or negative affect? What factors do you think are most important in your stance?