Naked Economics And Globalization

In today’s modern society, time is usually the most valuable commodity for anyone around the world. We are constantly complaining about how there are not enough hours in a day to do everything that is needed to be done. As we learn from Wheelan’s Naked Economics it is key to understand that Globalization and trade help save us time and money. It is claimed that trade makes us richer. Trading, again, saves time because we are able to use the time we would have to spend farming and hunting our own food, on other, more important ventures. With this knowledge, a world without trade, would be a continuous loop of running out of time. In addition to this, when countries specialize in one area of production, productivity increases. By trading with …show more content…
When a company bases their factory outside of the United States, they often do so in order to produce at a lower cost. Since the shoes, or computers, or any good for that matter, is produced at a lower cost, the company can afford to lower its prices. Trade does not solely benefit American and the country’s consumers, however. Poor countries gain a lot from trade such as access to markets in the developing world, a road to a richer country and the potential to branch out. Trade gives these poor countries the opportunity to sell to a larger, more expansive market, giving them an opportunity to make more money. According to Wheelan, export industries have higher wages to offer than jobs elsewhere in the economy. Not only that, these industries create more jobs, which in turn creates more competition for workers, increasing wages everywhere. Then these workers take their knowledge from these jobs, create new companies and expand the process even more. Another interesting point made is that trade is based on voluntary exchange, meaning sweatshops, are not the horror protestors make them out to be. These jobs pay more than any other job offered to the workers of an impoverished country. Coincidentally, all the protests and boycotts for the rights of these workers and the demand for fair treatment of them, is problematic in the long run. The less people buy from the company these people work for means …show more content…
Trade does, from time to time, create losers and, unfortunately, there is no way of protecting them. When a company relocates its plants to another country, as mentioned above, it costs many people their livelihoods. Protecting these jobs, however important and morally correct it may be, will stunt economic growth in the long run. If a factory is not relocated for the sake of saving jobs, it no longer has the ability to produce more at a cheaper rate. The economy is no longer growing, it is stuck in the same place it was when the company started. As if that weren’t enough, the richer countries get, the worse off the environment is. Production causes waste, and for a company trying to minimize cost, using alternative fuel, waste control, etc, is not their top priority. It is insane how many people die because of the environmental hazards of their everyday life, and an expanding economy, and trade, further damages the