SUMMER 2022
EQUILIBRIUM
GLOBALISATION
EDITORS' LETTER
We are delighted to bring you the newest edition of Equilibrium. This issue focuses on the theme of globalisation and how it acts to make the world a more connected place. Many factors affect globalisation and will be explored in this issue such as foreign direct investment, the COVID-19 pandemic and even developments in football. Other articles discuss the extent to which globalisation is beneficial or harmful to the global economy and whether globalisation is still happening or if it has run its course. This issue also features an opinion piece on the link between globalisation and social media!
Globalisation can give you an understanding on how world events have an impact on other economies. This understanding is becoming more and more relevant, considering the war in Ukraine, disruptions to supply chains and subseuquent rising global costs of living and of course, COVID-19. We hope this issue gives you an insight into how globalisation has shaped our world over the past few decades.
Next term's issue will be centred around Development! We encourage everyone studying, hoping to study or just interested in Economics to submit an article. If you would like to do so, please email it to ecosoc@habsboys.org.uk by 10th October 2022. Articles should be 500-1000 words long. We look forward to seeing your amazing articles next year!
Many thanks, the Equilibrium team
CONTENTS 1
3
IS GLOBALISATION COMING TO AN END? Amay Patel
STATISTICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL Noah Gabbie
5
7
TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE RECENT RISE IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AFFECTED GLOBALISATION? Ben Johnston
COVID-19 AND GLOBALISATION: THE AFTERMATH Aryan Janjale
9
EXPLORING CHINESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Rohan Rambai
12
GLOBALISATION: COSTBENEFIT ANALYSIS Ben Weinstein
14
MEET THE TEAM
IS GLOBALISATION COMING TO AN END? Globalisation was rapidly growing from 1990 to 2010. Tariffs and transport costs were decreasing whilst travel and communications technologies were thriving. The world was becoming more interconnected however, as quickly as it rose, it began to slow. The principle of equality of all nations within some societies was crumbling. Countries like the US were becoming more protectionist. Tax systems favoured home grown business, transport costs began to rise, businesses were more cautious about expanding abroad as they would be vastly outcompeted. For example, the US has abused its power from controlling the dollar by punishing foreign firms like Huawei and favouring companies like Apple. Slowbalisation, a term make up by the Dutch writer Adjiedj Bakas, began. A trading war began in 2018 between the USA and China, between Trump and Jinping. Obscenely high tariffs were put in place by both sides, and investment declined. Chinese investment into Europe and America fell by 73% in 2018 alone. This war has no sign of stopping as tariffs on China from the US are currently at 19.3%, six times higher than when the trade war began.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only increased slowbalisation as countries are forced to become more self-reliant. The pandemic has affected both globalisation itself and public opinion of globalisation. The public has been shocked and afraid to find that their health depends on an international fight carrying protective equipment. Tourism has taken a huge toll due to the pandemic as countries have shut their borders to nearly everyone. The number of passengers at Heathrow airport has dropped by 97% each year before the pandemic, during the pandemic there was effectively no travel. 21% of transpacific container-sailings in May 2020 were cancelled, demonstrating how trade has been affected. The trade of capital also suffers as long-term investment declines. Chinese venture-capital investment in the USA fell to $400m in the first quarter of 2020, 60% below its level two years prior. America instructed its main federal pension fund to stop buying Chinese shares – worsening the trade war. However, this fall in international investment wasn’t restricted to the US and China. Generally, wealthier countries (who collectively hold 59% of world GDP) tightened regulation on foreign investment.
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From these factors, we can see a decline in
The second problem is that slowbalisation
international trade and nations’ efforts against
does not reverse the problems created by
globalisation; tariffs and regulation have been
globalisation; they still exist. These problems
changed in order to favour domestic firms and
include structural unemployment caused in
discourage foreign investment.
developed countries from outsourcing and automation of manufacturing jobs, exploitation
The war in Ukraine further impacts globalisation.
of workers, climate change, among others.
It may mean that countries, especially European ones, become more interdependent. The
Overall, globalisation may be coming to an end
sanctions imposed on Russia mean they must
due to the trade war in 2018 and due to the
look for other sources for resources such as oil
pandemic. Whilst the effects of globalisation,
and gas. A current example of this is Finland
such as improvement in trade and world travel
wanting to join NATO. However, the war may also and the spread of different cultures around the push countries to become more self-reliant
world, still exist, the interdependence of the
because they have realised its advantages in
world will decline. Globalisation may be
times of geopolitical tension. This would then
reignited by the war in Ukraine, or it could
lead to Slobalisation.
increase slowbalisation; we don’t know yet. We can, however, be sure of one thing:
Slowbalisation has created two main problems.
globalisation isn’t what it used to be just a
Developing countries were able to catch up to
decade ago.
the developed countries in part due to globalisation; for example, Bangladesh’s GPD grew from $31.6 to $323 billion from 1990 to 2020. Bangladesh became a massive manufacturing economy, which allowed them to grow rapidly as developing countries looked to outsource manufacturing. Now, because globalisation is slowing and countries look to be more self-dependant and, especially due to the effects of the pandemic, the path to development is becoming more difficult.
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Amay Patel
STATISTICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL In recent years, the application of statistics in football has massively changed. In the past, all anyone would look at would be the main statistics, which consist of goals, assists, possession, shots, among others. However, these stats, whilst obviously useful and important, tend to be less helpful when looking at the top level – where there exists a level of randomness in these stats. This level of unpredictability made it harder to accurately analyse performance over long time periods. This led to the birth of underlying stats in football and most other sports. Underlying stats are stats that look at probability, rather than the concrete face stats that had been looked at in the past. While the actual stats differ from sport to sport, the general idea remains the same, where the randomness of things that happen as a one off are repeated and accumulated to find the likeliness of an event occurring. This enables sports clubs to find issues or weaknesses they may have, an example being a football team not building up a large enough expected goals (xG) tally, may not be creating enough chances even though the short-term randomness and a few weeks of above-average finishing may mask this. This group of stats allows deeper analysis, and better accounts for things going better or worse than they should be, meaning that performance can be maximised much more effectively.
In football, these stats are calculated from thousands and thousands of shots, collected from every possible attempt at goal, with endless variables being accounted for. The base stat is calculated from the position of the shot, which is then modified based on the body part used, body angle, defender and keeper position, ball before shot (first time shot, spin on the ball, through ball etc), minute in the game and countless others. As an example, a shot from 10 yards out in the centre of the goal could have an xG of 0.23, meaning out of 100 shots from that position, 23 would result in a goal (rounded). If the theoretical shot was taken using the player’s weaker foot, this would reduce the xG compared to a strong foot shot. Furthermore, if the goalkeeper was compromised in any way, the value would be higher. All these variables account for the final value, which is between 0 and 1, indicating the likelihood of a goal from that particular situation, where a higher value indicates a higher probability that the shot goes in the goal. This change is evident in Matthew Benham’s, who owns Danish side FC Midtjylland and newly promoted premier league club Brentford FC, actions. Since he took over Brentford in 2012, the club has risen from League 1 to the top division of English football, whilst adopting the Moneyball strategy that he tested and saw massive success within Denmark, winning 3 Danish Superliga titles in 2015, 2018 and 2020. EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 3
“For David to beat Goliath, he needed to use a different weapon”. This was said by Brentford’s co-director Rasmus Ankerson in 2017 and refers to the different approach they take. Objectively, Brentford are a smaller club with a lot less money than most of their competitors, meaning to compete they must ‘outthink,’ not outspend. To do this they analyse the underlying stats of players, rather than the face stats that grabs the attention of the wealthier clubs This is seen when comparing the signings of Brentford and Fulham from 2017/18 to 2020/21. The clubs are both London based and have been in and around the top of the Championship in recent years, so you would expect the signings they make to be comparable, but they are not. The attacking trio of Saïd Benrahma, Ollie Watkins and Bryan Mbeumo used by Brentford for the 2019/20 season cost under £15m to put together and were all signed from lower league or foreign teams (OGC Nice, Exeter City FC and ES Troyes AC respectively) before Watkins and Benrahma were sold for a combined £50m, while Mbeumo is still at the club and has proven himself to be quality player in the premier league this season. This is the Moneyball approach where the underlying stats were used to identify players, and the main source of this was expected goals. Looking at Benrahma in 15/16, a few years before he was signed for £1.5m, he accumulated 0.35xG but scored twice in the league. This is the underlying stat compared to face stats that other clubs use. Benrahma scoring 2 goals in a season is poor, but when you dig deeper, like Brentford did, they find a fantastic finisher who made the most of his limited chances. As a result of having low face stats, he was undervalued, so Brentford signed him for cheaper than what they felt he should have been valued and, having been sold to West Ham in 2020 for almost £25m, the scouting of undervalued players through expected goals enables clubs with less money to compete, when employed correctly.
When this is compared to the Fulham trio, used most often in that season, the difference is staggering. Bobby Decordova-Reid (signed for £8.3m from Cardiff City FC), Ivan Cavaleiro (£11m from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC) and Aleksandar Mitrovic (£22m from Newcastle United FC) were all signed from English clubs, with 2 being premier league clubs. This is the model that Fulham use and have been using recently: opting to sign players from Premier League clubs rather than finding value in the market. Following Fulham’s promotion in 2018, Mitrovic was signed on a permanent transfer. In his first season in the premier league with Fulham he scored 11 goals, which is considered generally a good return, but this is where we can see the difference between the approaches. Throughout the season, he accumulated 15.45 xG. His high underperformance of expected goals indicates a player who has done well, but probably should have done better. An 11-goal season in the Premier League will always result in a high market value because this is what people see, but having looked deeper, we can see that this could be an overvalued player, where other players in the same position would have scored more. This is the difference; Brentford look for undervalued players, but Fulham look for past successes regardless of their underlying stats. This shows that both teams have had success with their methods, with promotion in recent years at both clubs. This is despite the massive differences in spending and approaches of the clubs, proving that there is not a fixed way to succeed in football. Both have profited from statistical analyses and globalisation, sourcing their players from around the world. Noah Gabbie
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TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE RECENT RISE IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AFFECTED GLOBALISATION? In recent years, social media has become one of the most popular internet activities; it allows for a plethora of different uses, such as contacting old friends and family, learning, discovering new skills, and entertainment. All this, however, can individually affect the rate at which globalisation occurs. Social media is defined as ‘websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.’ Examples of popular social media websites include Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Zoom, TikTok, among others. Only these five will be considered due to the sheer number of different social media apps that may affect globalisation, such as Facebook or Snapchat, two other major social media applications. Globalisation is the process by which firms expand internationally, developing influence and foreign operations. Their international influence increases through higher international trade, foreign direct investment, capital market flows, migration of labour, and diffusion and exchange of technology.
On applications such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok – where photos, short videos and captions are posted – accounts gain followers based on external popularity (e.g. acting, music or modelling) or the quality and quantity of content. However, what effect do these apps have on international trade? Each aforementioned platform allows for the creation of influencers; those who regularly produce content have a level of popularity and fame that ‘influences’ others. These people may be important to international trade because their influence is not restricted by distance. For example, someone from Australia could follow and consume the content from someone who lives in the UK. This allows firms to have the ability to sponsor these influencers, who then advertise these products to people across the world; this then causes influencers’ fans to import the advertised goods, increasing international trade and so globalisation. Furthermore, the websites themselves simply create spaces in which firms can advertise in the form of posts or videos, which greaten this impact. Foreign direct investment is not heavily linked to social media, but rather to the manufacturing industry, for example, the outsourcing of factories. So, in this case, social media does not have a noteworthy effect on globalisation.
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Furthermore, an argument could be made to say that social media could have a negative effect on FDI. Communication of horrible working conditions and reports are more easily spread, leading to the ‘cancellation’ of some firms, and, although the vast majority still stay in business, it could impact their sales, as some buyers opt to buy from firms with better working conditions and are locally produced. However, this impact is not significant and so will not be considered. However, the most significant impact of social media on globalisation is that of migration and the diffusion of technology. The fact that data can be pinged across the world has increased collaboration on the improvement of technology; scientists from all over the world can more easily share their discoveries on social media which allows the process by which innovative technologies are created and discovered to rapidly increase. This increases globalisation as the research and discovery sector starts working at an international scale. Furthermore, migration has increased in two ways. Firstly, social media-driven cultural globalisation has reduced the barriers of entry to migrating to another country; for example, many people may feel much more equipped with American culture with the use of social media than without, especially considering the USA can be considered as the ‘hub’ of social media. This allows migration to increase as people become more familiarised and so less scared of migrating. Although a more significant way in which migration has increased is what will be termed ‘digital migration.’ This means that if migration is termed as the movement of labour, social media has allowed labour to ‘move’ digitally. Apps such as Zoom allow workers to work away from offices or factories or any such working facility, simply in the comfort of their own homes.
In the tertiary sector (commerce, administration, transport, financial and real estate activities, business and personal services, education, health, and social work) workers can ‘Zoom’ into other countries to work, allowing highly skilled workers who may want to remain in their home country (which may be underdeveloped) to work high paying jobs in other countries, increasing globalisation. In conclusion, the rise of social media has led to a massive increase in globalisation, primarily in the movement of labour, diffusion of technology and international trade. It has allowed the influence of businesses to expand, reducing the problem of distance. This allows firms to advertise their ideas, products, and jobs internationally. To prove this assertion, it was found in 2014 that data flows were worth $2.8 trillion and have been found to exert a larger impact on global GDP than the flow of goods. Overall, the analysis presented coupled with the statistics demonstrates the large extent to which social media has affected the rise of globalisation is prominent. Ben Johnston
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COVID-19 AND GLOBALISATION: THE AFTERMATH Undoubtedly, the COVID pandemic has had a
A key determinant of this was countries’
huge impact on the global economy. The
healthcare systems; for example, Somalia – the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects a
country with lowest GHI – had a low number of
6.5% economic decline in the UK. For years,
cases. However, their poor healthcare systems
many economists have long speculated about
and lack of action in containing infections
the eventual downfall of globalisation;
exacerbated their vulnerability.
international free trade has significantly reduced due to the pandemic which led to the
Economies that relied heavily on globalisation for
rise and resurgence of domestic reshoring.
healthcare supplies were forced to use resources
Nearing the end of the pandemic, we ask
that lie in their own borders – which were often of
ourselves: did globalisation survive and if so,
a lower quality.
how? Further, COVID-19 widened the disparity between The pandemic placed unprecedented burden on
high and low-income nations. However, now, as
the economy – apparent in air and ship
regulations are no longer hindering the previously
transport. In 2019, 4.5 billion passengers
integral process of globalisation, has or will it
travelled with airlines, whereas, during the
return in full force? During the height of COVID,
pandemic this number reduced to 2.2 billion. To
academic institutions, retailers and offices were
prevent the pandemic’s spread, travel
closed; globalisation had largely ceased. The
restrictions were put in place. A disruption in
question was whether it would be permanent or
the transport industry led to events that have
temporary.
had global economic ramifications. Other industries, such as Food and Agriculture, have
One could argue global supply chains are
faced similar issues. However, the explanation
extremely intricate and complex. However,
to globalisation’s survival is found in the way in
globalisation's disappearance only sparks mass
which each country dealt with the pandemic and
appeal for its return.
preserved their economy. EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 7
The pandemic has exposed the urgent need to revisit disaster preparation. No one can predict the next crisis; so, in the meantime, world leaders must work together to ensure we are prepared next time. This will mean that our people, and economies, won’t suffer as much – a globalised effort will allow us to do so.
Aryan Janjale
Figure 1
Figure 1 shows a sample network of GVCs (Global Value Chains) produced by the WIOD (World Input-Output Database) before the pandemic. Many predicted a massive shake up to these patterns, however, GVCs always follow the principle of efficiency. Businesses source the best possible inputs to meet the production needs at the lowest cost, independent of where it comes from. So, it is great news for globalisation survival. However, previously, multiple economists scrutinised overreliance on complex GVCs. These concerns have been put to rest as many justified the medium of globalisation as it is so important. Even though some countries can now produce goods without relying on imports, globalisation is ever present. More importantly, globalisation’s survival is essential in reducing vulnerability, from both an economic and healthcare standpoint.
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EXPLORING CHINESE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Foreign direct investment (FDI) is when an investment is made by a party into another country. This is different from foreign portfolio investment because FDI requires a controlling ownership in a firm, whereas foreign portfolio investment is investment into a firm without a controlling stake. This is normally used for businesses, but in the case of China, a communist, controlling state, any actions by businesses can perhaps be seen as actions of the state, so in this case FDI is investment by a country into another country. China’s influence expands with every foreign investment it makes; do we see the country creating a modern-day empire? China is known to have significant FDI in African countries. In 2013, China became the largest equity investor in Africa, replacing the USA. Equity investment is the purchasing of a stake in a company; China has bought stakes many Africa-based firms, more than any other country, increasing African nations’ reliance on China.
The graph above shows Chinese investment into Africa, but interestingly two sectors stick out – energy and transport. Regarding energy, it is an industry of the future, especially the renewable sector. When China began developing, around the 1980s, firms would invest in China, and produce their products there. The chart below shows this. Around 1992 there was an explosion in investment, as shown by the graph below, and since then there has been consistent growth in FDI into China. One reason for this was China’s open door policy of 1978, which meant that there were four areas in southern China which were attractive due to low taxation in these areas, incentivising businesses to move there. This increased the number of countries with which China traded, resulting in rapid economic growth. EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 9
The costs of production in China were low, so firms could try to profit maximise. Presently, China’s GDP is growing, moving closer towards becoming a middle-income nation; thus now China may feel it is too developed to be seen as cheap labour and land, so they must move onto other even cheaper labour and land themselves. This is backed up by China having the second largest GDP in the world, behind the US – yet they are 82nd in the world for GDP per capita (World Bank). This is where the continent of Africa steps in. China’s GDP per capita, as of 2020, was $10 434 USD, whereas the GDP per capita of SubSaharan African in 2020 was just $1 499 USD (World Bank). This shows how far China has developed, once a country of low costs, now outsourcing to even cheaper areas, but also shows how much investment is required in SubSaharan Africa, an area with many rich individuals but hundreds of millions in poverty. It is indicative of how quickly business moves to find cheaper sources. One example of this is Bangalore, India; it was, and still is, a thriving city with many large corporations setting up offices there, but as time moved on, it became expensive to keep up high profits, so firms have started to move to cities such as Pune, where it is currently cheaper to operate. Once Pune becomes expensive, firms will move again. This aligns with the profit motive of firms. This outflow of Chinese wealth into foreign manufacturing is confirmed by Santander’s Trade Markets, which shows that in 2019 China invested 25.5% of its FDI in manufacturing (Santander, 2022), the most out of any industry.
One of China's biggest projects is the Belt and Road initiative, which was a term used by Xi Jingping, the president of China. The aim of this initiative, introduced in 2013, was to connect China and Asia to Europe and Africa, which further underlines China’s desire to invest in Africa. If transport costs from China to Africa decrease, assuming ceteris paribus, profits would increase. The idea that goods will be able to travel from Asia would seem to benefit countries such as India and Pakistan, but really most goods come from China, so it would benefit them the most. This is interesting because Chinese policies tend to always be self-serving; an example is China’s bias towards Russia during the current war, whereas the West are in favour of Ukraine, as shown by the sanctions placed by the West on Russia. They are focused on themselves mostly, improving their own country, but here they are perhaps giving countries along this new “Silk Road” an avenue into trade, which may see faster development in Southeast Asia and Northern Africa. One country which has benefited greatly from this project is Iraq, receiving significant Chinese investment, with $10.5 billion worth of construction deals being agreed between Beijing and Iraq. Why would they invest here? One reason is to gain more leverage over oil, as Iraq is the third largest exporter of oil to China. This increases the security of the supply of oil to China. EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 10
This would also help China during the rise in oil prices, where they may not be as badly affected as other developing nations. As well as this, Iraq is OPEC’s second largest producer of oil. Experts in the field, such as Christoph Nedopil Wang, director of the Green Finance & Development Centre, said that this shift towards the Middle East and Africa was unique, considering that Chinese investments were expected to be in Asia, but perhaps there are already future global powers there, namely India, with whom China may remain in a power struggle for decades. Politically, this is interesting, because the US recently moved out of Iraq, in an attempt to let Iraq stabilise, yet in this power vacuum China seems to be gaining power. This could be symbolic of a changing of the guard in world politics, perhaps to the era of an East Asian empire compared to the US’s dominance over the last century. Law firm Baker McKenzie have pointed out that Chinese FDI outflows into Europe increased by 25% but dropped by 34% in North America. This further demonstrates China’s bid for larger global influence. Its efforts in Europe seem well-timed – the pandemic, Brexit, the French election, Germany’s new chancellor and the UkraineRussia conflict have all weakened Europe. Perhaps this is China’s tactic: gain a foothold at a time of political turmoil and confusion. Whatever its motives may be, one thing is clear: China’s sphere of influence is ever-expanding. We must be wary of its rising superpower status.
Rohan Rambai
EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 11
GLOBALISATION: COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Another benefit of globalisation is that it provides economic activity to countries that would have otherwise not had as much. For example, in Globalisation is when firms can be located Vietnam manufacturing makes up 58.2% of the anywhere, use resources from anywhere, to country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) and is produce goods anywhere and sell them predicted to make GDP grow by 6.5% this year. anywhere. Some examples of globalisation can be seen on all Apple products which say, ‘made in The manufacturing sector is such an integral part of the Vietnamese economy that the government California, assembled in China.’ This means that set up vocational schemes that train and equip Apple, an American company, designs its products in California and manufactures its goods the workforce for such work, boosting their skills. Manufacturing goods for foreign firms has in China and then sells them across the world. boosted the economy and rose Vietnam’s status Globalisation was first prominent in the 15th globally, boosting both the foreign and century when European explorers would sail to Vietnamese economies. However, FDI can be used parts of Asia and North America and bring back what they found – selling them at a great margin! as a tool for personal gain rather than boosting a developing economy. In 2013, China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which aimed to One benefit of globalisation is that it lowers invest in 70 countries and international prices for consumers. This is because the cost of organisations. Some argue that the main aim of production has decreased – firms then reduce their prices in order to remain competitive within the BRI is to increase China’s economic and political influence and make countries dependent the market. The highest minimum wage in China on the Chinese economy. Additionally, it allows is in Beijing, which is 25.3 Yuan, equivalent to Chinese companies to operate in other countries. £3.09. Whereas the UK minimum wage is £9.50, Many Chinese companies are state owned and over triple what it is in China. Therefore, firms choose to produce their goods in China. However, therefore if Chinese firms operate internationally, so does the government, further increasing global some may raise the point that a firm should Chinese influence. As a result of this, many FDI support the domestic economy, sourcing labour programs are for personal gain rather than for and resources locally. This is not a consideration the benefit of the country being invested in. for companies as their main aim is to maximise their profits by any means. This results in them having the lowest cost of production possible. EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 12
One area in which globalisation causes harm is the carbon footprint that it leaves behind. The UN has set out plans for the world to be net zero by 2050 and many countries have macroeconomic objectives to care for the environment and to try to limit the extent to which they pollute it. This contradicts the idea of globalisation as transporting raw materials across the world, producing goods in large factories and then shipping manufactured goods globally leaves behind a large carbon footprint. From an environmental point of view, production processes and sourcing raw materials should be done domestically. This is to limit the distance goods travel and thus, the amount of pollution these processes create.
Overall, globalisation is a necessary economic concept if nations are to progress economically. A major reason is the technology industry, the fastest growing globally; if one country was to make a breakthrough that could benefit others, it should be shared to improve productive efficiency, standards of living or decrease cost of production. Another example of the necessity of globalisation is the fruit market. Countries’ climates are out of human control and so fruits’ yields are too. As a result, it must import those which it cannot grow. This relies on the idea of globalisation to function and displays how it is a key part of being in a global economic forum.
Ben Weinstein
‘Containerisation’ is when goods are shipped globally in containers; this of course overall contributes to pollution but, due to containers’ size, by adding an extra good, no extra pollution is created. Another downside to globalisation is that global economies can become too interdependent. This was seen recently when a ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, meaning no others could get through, causing huge disruptions to global supply chains. This meant that there was no clear and easy route from Asian countries, where manufacturing is focused in countries such as China, Vietnam, India and Japan, to Western nations, where most of these goods are sold. It could be argued that this would not have happened if globalisation was limited, meaning goods would be produced more locally. Goods produced in Europe would be sold in Europe and goods produced in Asia would be sold in Asia, with little need for a pathway between the two and if it were to be blocked the consequences would be minimal. However, there are alternatives to solely shipping goods as a form of transport. An alternative is cargo planes which would alleviate the problem of blocked routes as there are no set routes that can be blocked while transporting by air.
EQUILIBRIUM | PAGE 13
Meet the Team
Ozair Surti
Ben Weinstein
Amay Patel
Arian Heravi
Special thanks to Mrs Zahid for overseeing!