Globalization and the Environment

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Recommended: The Impact of Globalization on environment

Economy is not a separate thing from production, consumption and exchange. Economics pays no attention to goods and services provided by nature, air, water, soil and sunlight that produce everything we need for survival and all the riches we are able to accumulate. What is the cost of globalization to the environment? Does globalization have the same goals for a healthy planet and justice for people?

Timothy Taylor writes, “Moreover, large multinational companies typically do not perceive it to be in their self-interest to seek out locations where they can pollute most heavily.” He goes on to explain that these companies have a design in place with pollution-control that meets the standards of countries with strict environmental laws. He thinks that globalization is helping to improve standards in low-income countries of environment and labor rather than to hinder them. Also, that globalization makes the world a more peaceful place because of the connections between people that are created.

“The 200 largest companies in the world employ less than 1% of the global workforce, but they control more than ¼ of the world’s wealth,” write Suzuki and Dressel. The larger companies are operating globally without interference and using up the natural resources with cheap labor overseas. Corporations are no longer connected to the local economies but to international laws that have been set up to their advantage. The wealth that once was distributed to the good of public welfare is now being rerouted to the corporations through their focus on policies of government. The current system is allowing corporations to make the rules of global economic activity. According to John Cavanaugh, author of Global Dreams “Not only are these corpor...

... middle of paper ...

...ebody comes up with a viable solution? The world is becoming smaller and smaller every day and perhaps the History books of the future will look at this time and wonder how we could have been so ignorant as to let the world die.

Works Cited:

Bright, Christopher, (2001), Biological adversity: the hidden costs of Trade and economic globalization, Harvard International Review,

Winter 2001, pp 24-27.

Grennes, Thomas, (2003), Creative Destruction and Globalization, Cato Journal, Winter 2003, pp.543-558

Newcomb, W. W. (1961) The Coahuiltecans: South Texas, the Indians of Texas: From Prehistoric to Modern Times, Austin, TX: UT Press, 1961

Suzuki, D., & Dressel, H., (1999), From naked ape to superspecies. Toronto, Canada: Stoddard Publishing Co., Limited

Taylor, Timothy (2002), The truth about globalization, Public Interest, Spring 2002, pp. 24-44.

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