The Effect of Globalization on Young People

As the degree of globalization is being strengthened in the present-day world, the issue of globalization has been a highly controversial topic, stimulating extensive attention among the economists and commentators. It is widely agreed that globalization produces widespread and profound impact on every field of the whole world, especially on the aspects of society, economy, politics and culture. However, there is a growing difference of opinion on whether the effects of globalization are beneficial or not. In spite of some negative effects that the anti-globalization groups point out, the positive impact produced by globalization is comprehensive and significant. Many economists consider the process of globalization as the main motivator for social progress, economic growth and cultural exchange. Thus, this essay will be mainly concerned with the beneficial effects of globalization on economy, education and world peace. From the economic perspective, economic globalization contributes to a higher growth rate in the developing countries which are involved in globalization. The positive effects should be attributed to openness associated with globalization. On one hand, according to Rappaport (2000), openness to international trade empowers these developing countries to develop their competitive advantages in manufacturing a certain products, thus making more profits. On the other hand, it is illustrated in Romer (1993) that opening to foreign direct investment can narrow the gaps between developing and developed nations by stimulating the flow of domestic capital and introducing advanced technology and equipment, thereby improving efficiency and productivity and speeding economic growth in developing countries. A good case in point is that economic growth rate in China significantly increased by 2. 3% from 1975 to 2000 due to implementing economic globalization (Dreher, 2006). In addition, from the educational standpoint, technological globalization is advantageous to the educational development. This is mainly based on the widespread utilization of information and communication technology around the world. It increases the availability of education and allows more students to engage themselves in various academic exchanges cross the borders. Kellner (2002) points out that the participation in academic communication at a global level is a perfect interactive platform for students living in different parts of the world to have access to and share information and knowledge. It is also argued in Kellner (2002) that more opportunities are offered to students to have access to those research libraries or institutions, which were inaccessible in the past. These positive effects brought by globalization can contribute to promoting the development of global education. Finally, globalization promotes world peace that is the prerequisite to accelerate the common development of all countries. For one hand, economic interchange at the global level encourages all the countries in the world to cooperate with each other. It is illustrated by Martin and Mayer (2008), it is extremely essential for nations who want to profit from global trade to establish friendly relations with other countries. For another hand, mutual interaction in international commercial activities contributes to strengthening their contacts between different countries. Martin and Mayer (2008) also believe that in order to further promote their prosperity, those countries which are involved in the globalization not only enhance their contacts with other countries but also tighten those ties. Consequently, global economic interchanges promote mutual comprehension, cooperation, and contacts between different states around the world, in turn, promoting the world peace. In conclusion, by analyzing the benefits brought by globalization to the three main aspects: economy, education and society, this paper presents the positive effects of globalization, supported by relevant evidence from academic materials. In particular, it is described in this paper that globalization is of significant benefits for economic growth in developing countries, educational development and world peace.