This report by Binyamin Applebaum (2015) discuses and covers what has happened to the once thriving industrial heartland of America. How loss of quality jobs, wages, and way of life had literally destroyed a once vibrant town in Illinois. What has happened to that town, what the causes were and how there is no faith in government to truly fix things as foreign trade deals continue to hurt the working people of the United States going forward into the 21st century.
Analysis:
After reading and studying this article, my analysis is that economic globalization is an ever increasing growing problem on the economic and industrial output of small town America. Such areas have been irrevocably hurt by government policies that support globalization and enabled such quality jobs to move out of the country, while the blue collar workers have not only lost jobs and great wages, but also in many cases lost hope of a solution being found. The only thing the people want is the ability to be successful and live their lives and dreams to the fullest. They want to work and not be loafers, but the loss of productivity has had negative effects on the town of Galesburg.
Reflection:
I think harder times are ahead for such places in America. Terrible trade deals, government regulations and polices have destroyed the economies of such towns and cities. And the President of the United States looks out of touch when Applebaum (2015) said in Galesburg a couple years ago, “Let’s tell the world that America is open for business,” he said. “I know there’s an old site right here in Galesburg, over on Monmouth Boulevard – let’s put some folks to work” (Applebaum, 2015, para. 33). But that did not happen as most of that factory has been leveled, and the number of people living there has also declined. So given that the government supports such trade and globalization polices that allow businesses to move out of the country and millions of Americans continue to lose not only jobs, but a way of life without an equal replacement job will only continue to add angst to such places and within the country itself. Besides less jobs and lower incomes, this kind of damage to American productivity also has damaging side effects. Such effects being increased trade deficits, difficulty for less educated people to find work, and lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which hurts the economy across the board. And despite the benefits of such trade deals the positives have not been distributed to the people evenly. So the theory of the loss of one way of life leads to another that is just as productive is a farce and with increased global competition via globalization only will continue to increase unemployment and decrease wages not just in Galesburg, but across the United States as a whole.
What do you think can be done to reverse this trend of deceased productivity in such towns and how can it be done?
Globalization Under Duress
Summary:
The article from the Washington Post is on the global economic situation across many countries and continents. From the migrant chaos in Europe, to the corruption in Brazil, to the financial turmoil in China, and finally the United States economic situation all with the effects and dangers of globalization. But the main topic point is currency manipulation, trade imbalances, and other economic measures including austerity the effects. Plus, what needs to be done to correct issues of policy.
Analysis:
My analysis of this article is that many nations working within globalization have figured out ways to manipulate the economic systems (China and Germany) of other more open nations, like the United States and many in the European Union. The constant currency manipulation by the Chinese government or in the United States by the Federal Reserve or in Germany through the Euro have all created significant imbalances with other nations that are not as economically fit or strong. These actions are major policy mistakes that expand the imbalances between nations and between the people of the world. Also in the long term, there is a great danger that due to those manipulative policies that out of control inflation or hyperinflation could strike and start a domino effect due to the negative impact that globalization has had in other parts of the world. Plus at least for the United States, the non-stop growing trade deficit should also be a long term concern as there does not seem to be any end in sight to such growing annual deficits that many nations along with the United States are running up. The Chinese and its government continues to be the worst currency manipulator of all and their growing instability threatens not just the Asian markets that have been swept into globalization but the entire world as a whole. At least in some circles of Europe there is hope for sanity after the insanity of Greece and Cypress. Austerity concepts seem to finally be gaining tractions and may against the high unemployment in many nations of Europe.
Reflection:
My reflection is that this is a very messy situation that should not have gotten to this point globally or even happened. The terrible policy mistakes made by the economic world powers is proof positive that the world is far from ready for any more steps towards unified globalization. The mistakes that have been made and their impact are far from over. And also it’s only going to get worse the longer that countless governments are manipulating their respective currencies and trade practices. As eventually all this manipulation will backfire as it has countless times in history before. Only this time the catastrophe will be global and will result in complete devastation, not just economically but socially as well. So the longer economic globalization and the policy mistakes that remain in place or are expanded upon while being forced on the masses will result in putting off the inevitable. And so this economic limping and enabling is going to continue for the foreseeable future and when the fallout or economic collapse comes is when everything will come apart at the seams.
What austerity measures can be enacted to save many nations, if not the world from that economic mess?
The Limits of Globalization
Summary:
This article is more upbeat in its writing on globalization. It’s an article that believes that many diverse nation states are connected by common values and restricted by a larger international order. The article claims that global poverty is in decline and that more cultural artifacts are being enjoyed around the world. However, there is no substance on how all of this is being accomplished and takes people who read this article on a little tour of past history and paints a rosy picture of things now and how it could be going forward.
Analysis:
For this article, I think there is a lot of selective picking on things that did or did not happen historically. On the upside, the article does warn the readers that conflict can and will still happen due to economic situations in such institutions like the European Union and the dangers of future impacts due to the outside influences on all open trade and or democratic nations of the world. The author of the article does not cite any real sources from which he bases his findings and no theories on how to continue the alleged positive trend. Also despite the positive spin of the article, it’s quite clear that many economic issues remain with poverty still being a major problem despite the advances made towards globalization. Plus, other issues also exist that keep a solid percentage of humanity divided and in some sort of conflict that still is across many spectrums including economic ones. Finally, the faith in humanity to be better and expand on values that have evolved since the Enlightenment three centuries ago, yet countless conflicts have continued occurring, many of them economic since the start of the Enlightenment. Many leading ivy league educated people are criticized for helping create additional conflicts around the world that have helped to promote economic instability and angst among the nations of the world. All of which has resulted in Russian aggressive, Chinese expansion, and major economic issues that have been addressed with band aids over real solutions that might help avert future disasters.
Reflection:
The article does its best for the readers to think that things in the world are going in the right direction and that things are indeed better for everyone despite the conflicts and numerous issues of the world. But it fails to cite sources or give any real evidence as to what got things to this point. Instead the author used sources that may have agreed with his preconceived biases by over spewing handpicked lines or snippets. Its nicely written, but with no sources or substance should make anyone ask questions as to how they came to said conclusions on the state of things in the world in general. So if sources were added it would make this article more convincing than it is in its current state, as anyone can say, write, or post anything and get people to believe in such or any number of people to buy into it. In essence this could be viewed as window dressing or just propaganda over real facts.
Can that economic vitality that the United States as enjoyed for so long be used to help save off economic disaster in the European Union?