The Role Of Globalization In The United States

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Most geographers, historians, and economists agree… technology, transportation, and globalization have made our world smaller. Just a couple generations ago, our purchasing abilities were very different. Acquiring goods meant walking down the street to the local “Mom and Pop” corner market. A pint of strawberries came from the local orchard, bread was made by the town baker, and your new dress came from the community seamstress. If essentials were not home-grown or home-made, they were at least locally produced and locally sold. Little-by-little, over time, our purchasing circle has grown and the world has become smaller.

So why is our purchasing circle is wider? Transportation and technology have changed our opportunities. Purchasing …show more content…

workers in this age of globalization is the fact that technology has not only made the purchasing world smaller, it has also made the services world smaller. For most of history, businesses sourced their labor from the local community. People who lived near a factory found jobs and worked in the factory or people moved to a town to secure a position. Over time and with the spread of business through subsidiaries, based in distant communities, job opportunities that were once local have disseminated across the country and in many cases, have world-wide. The addition of computer technology has exacerbated this problem. Companies labor source is no longer limited to local or even national workers (who require a minimum wage and often, expensive health and retirement benefits, which are expensive and decrease the businesses net profitability). Globalization has enabled businesses to source their labor world-wide, from countries whose labor laws are less strict and whose citizens require lower wages. Many industries–such as the publishing world–now source most of their labor overseas. This spread has created a much wider competition for jobs and is now greatly affecting U.S. unemployment

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