Globalization

 

What products does your country export to the world? Has this trade helped the people of your country?

-          Mostly televisions, cars and agriculture products like berries. I do think this trade has helped people but not as much as it could help.

What imports do you buy? Are they more expensive than locally produced products? Are they better quality?

-          What I buy the most is clothes and tennis shoes because it does not matter where you buy them, mostly of them are made in Asia. I think the price is almost the same or maybe a little bit more expensive because of the brand, and about quality I guess it depends a lot on the product and brand.

Some people say that the availability of brands like McDonald´s and Starbucks in every country is a bad thing. What do you think? Do you ever buy from these or similar brands?

-          I do not think its presence is bad because even if the payment is low, they offer jobs and it is not like the only place you can buy hamburgers or coffee, so people can still decide where to buy those products. Personally, I am not a big client of these huge franchises, but I do not have any problem with them.

How would you feel if a large employer in your country decides to relocate to another country where the wages were lower?

-          I would feel bad because of all the people losing their jobs but I would understand that is part of the process as a company, they are always trying to reduce cost as much as possible.

Who benefits the most from globalization?

-          The richest countries and the biggest companies.

What are the positive and negative consequences of globalization?

-          Positive: it offers job opportunities in countries in need, it allows people from other countries to buy things that without globalization would be very expensive. It also lets us know about different cultures and learn about everything we want.

-          Negative: the richest companies take advantage to reduce cost and generate more profits. Small companies cannot compete with the big ones. Culture can be lost because of the influence of trends, publicity, etc. Migration. 

Globalization vocabulary comprehension questions

1.       Why are so many people opposed to globalization? Are you opposed to it in any way?

I guess people is opposed to it because of the side effects like migration, pollution, low wages and the loss of job opportunities in wealthy countries. I am not against globalization but I do not agree with the way it is happening.

 

2.       Does globalization lead to a race to the bottom in term of wages and working conditions?

Totally, countries do anything to look more attractive to big companies looking for them to come to the country and offer jobs.

 

3.       Have manufacturing job increased in your country as a result of globalization?

Yes, it has increased a lot specially in the Bajío and the north frontier.

 

4.       Will advances in telecommuting result in job losses in wealthier countries?

Probably because it is cheaper to have employees from developing countries with the same educational level.

 

5.       Which multinational are active in your country? Have they had a positive or negative impact on your country?

A lot of companies linked to car production has arrived, specially in Guanajuato state. It has both negative and positive impacts, like pollution in change to offer job to many people.

 

6.       In what ways is the world interdependent today?

In everything related to production and commerce duo to the huge offer of cheap supplies from all around the world, now even a very simple product has parts from different countries, so if any of the parts involved has a problem it will affect the whole process.

Video activity 

1.       Inequality

2.       More money

3.       More money

4.       Reward companies who use local labour

5.       Increase tariffs

6.       Retrain them