Globalisation
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| globalisation | 全球化 | quán qiú huà |
| trade liberalisation | 贸易自由化 | mào yì zì yóu huà |
| multinational corporations | 跨国公司 | kuà guó gōng sī |
| supply chains | 供应链 | gōng yìng liàn |
| technology transfer | 技术转移 | jì shù zhuǎn yí |
| inequality | 不平等 | bù píng děng |
The shrinking world
- A phone designed in California, made in China from Korean chips, sold in Nigeria — that's globalisation 全球化: the deepening integration of the world's economies.
- It has lifted millions out of poverty and stirred fierce debate in equal measure.
Open economy lab
See how trade or exchange-rate pressure changes domestic outcomes.
Which is a key driver of globalisation?
Cheaper transport/communication, trade liberalisation and MNCs drive integration.
Large firms operating across many countries, central to globalisation, are ______ corporations.
Multinational corporations (MNCs) drive global supply chains.
What drives it
- Falling transport and communication costs (containers, the internet),
- trade liberalisation 贸易自由化 (lower tariffs, trade agreements),
- the rise of multinational corporations 跨国公司 and global supply chains 供应链.
Globalisation: falling trade and transport costs tie national economies together
A benefit of globalisation is:
It lowers prices, widens markets, transfers technology and has cut poverty in places.
Globalisation can cause job losses in industries that cannot compete internationally.
Uncompetitive domestic industries may shrink — a real cost of openness.
Classify each effect of globalisation.
Globalisation brings both gains and losses — hence the debate.
Winners and losers
- Benefits: cheaper goods, access to bigger markets, technology transfer 技术转移, and millions lifted from poverty (e.g. East Asia).
- Costs: job losses in uncompetitive industries, widening inequality 不平等, environmental strain, and loss of cultural diversity.
Both at once. Globalisation cut consumer prices and grew developing-country exports, and hollowed out some manufacturing regions in rich countries — which is why the politics are so contested.
The debate
- The question isn't whether to globalise but how: managing the losers (retraining, safety nets), the environment, and fair terms — so the gains are shared.
You've got it
- globalisation = deepening integration of economies (trade, finance, supply chains)
- driven by lower transport/communication costs, trade liberalisation, multinationals
- it has winners and losers — cheaper goods + poverty reduction vs job losses + inequality