It is not difficult to notice that some headlines in newspapers nowadays are related to globalization issues. By definition, globalization is a process whereby an increased portion of economic or other activity is carried out across national borders. It is definitely not a newly discovered phenomenon as people have been trading across the world throughout the course of human history. However it has sped up greatly over the last half-century. No doubt, the world has became more interconnected and the production of goods and services has increased due to globalization. However,it is evident that globalization has lead to a widening gap between the affluent and poor thus resulting in inequality. The strong nations becoming richer and the weak nations becoming poorer as they have less competitive advantages. Therefore, to tackle inequality, education policies which focus on equity have to be employed in order to reduce income inequity (Eun Chung, 2012). Besides, it is important to also ensure that global economic growth is inclusive and benefits to greatest number of people.
First of all, the unequal distribution of resources such as education results in inequality as people who have access to it are able to reap more benefits. When well established companies want to expand their businesses, they tend to hire well-educated people who have more knowledge and higher skills. Therefore, people from countries with an under-developed education system are at the disadvantage and they can only work in poor labor conditions with low wages. Every child should have the chance to go to school but there are more than 57 million children around the world who are not able to go to primary school (UK Gov, 2013). Therefore well developed countries can provide education aid to help to build schools in poor countries while the poor countries' governments should put more emphasis on education and try to obtain as many investments and resources as possible to improve the education standards. With the opportunity of receiving a better quality of education, the children there then has a higher chance of achieving higher academic outcomes and eventually securing good jobs. However, there are still large proportions of children in Africa and South Asia unable to receive any formal education (UK Gov, 2013). The implication for education is strong so more effort has to be put in to make sure students worldwide are given the best education possible which in turn increases the earning abilities of the next generation and hopefully reduces income inequity across the world eventually.
Next, another way to tackle global inequity is to encourage an inclusive economic growth so that benefits can be distributed equally and fairly. Right now some government and international organizations have been helping nations at the base of the economic pyramid but usually with little progression. Many people think of the poor as being the responsibility of the state and mere recipients of aid. However, people from poor countries can be creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers who contribute to prosperity by doing their share too so they should be included in the growing world economy. There are an increasing number of companies who realize the potential of this market and have been producing and marketing goods to the poor while offering them opportunities to be producers, distributors and retailers (Akpofure, 2012). Those companies who do business with farmers actually give them complete business solutions which include products, financing and knowledge so that their business can be successful and at the same time have gave precious experience to the poor. The ‘inclusive business’ model can be a great competitive advantage for the companies too as shown by the steady rise of developing countries across the world such as Brazil, India and China. More companies have to realize this benefit in order to develop an inclusive growth of economics.
In conclusion, globalization creates inequality between developed countries and developing countries. One researcher (Tanaka, 2012) showed that developed countries like the U.S. and Japan are much richer than some developing countries such as Ethiopia, Haiti and Nepal. Therefore, it is important for developed countries to do something to reduce the inequality. They can provide aid to developing countries on development of a better education system as well as invest more into those countries to establish global inclusive growth. Nations across the world needs to cooperate with each other more to correct inequality so that everyone receive benefits, especially those in need.
References:
References:
- Eun Chung Ji (2012), OECD educationtoday: How can education help tackle rising income inequality. Version 25 April 2012. http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.sg/2012/04/how-can-education-help-tackle-rising.html (Accessed on 14 Mar 2014)
- UK Gov (2013), Making sure children in developing countries get a good education, UK. Version 11 October 2013. https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-sure-children-in-developing-countries-get-a-good-education (Accessed on 01 March 2014)
- Akpofure I. (2012), International Development News- Business for the poor is not poor business. Version 24 September 2012. https://www.devex.com/news/business-for-the-poor-is-not-poor-business-79229 (Accessed on 27 Feb 2014)
- Tanaka M. (2012), Globalization and Inequality, Japan Sociology. Version 03 July 2012. http://japansociology.com/2012/07/03/globalization-and-inequality-3/ (Accessed on 14 Mar 2014)
