1. The Costs and Benefits of Globalization
Do the benefits outweigh the cost?

2. Main Players in the Globalization Debate
Four types of organizations play key roles:
International organizations
WTO, UN, World Bank, IMF
Non-governmental organizations
World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club
Multinational corporations
McDonalds, Goggle
Sovereign nation-states
United States, G 8
The IMF and foreign debt
Policy of debt forgiveness?
Globalization Index
Large capital flows through trade and investment; higher on the index
2009 – Belgium vs West Bank and Gaza

3. Globalization Helped or Hindered Economic Develop?
Economic Development: the process by which nations increase their economic output and improve their citizen’s lives
WTO and World Bank classifications
Based on GDP
Developed, developing, and least developed
UN uses the HDI (Human Development Index)
Life expectancy, education, and standard of living
1/6th in extreme poverty
Living on less than $1.25 a day

4. Globalization Helped or Hurt the Environment?
World-wide industrialization
Strain on natural resources, exploitation by multinational corporations
Protection of the resources
May solve problems like climate change/endangered species through international cooperation

5. Does Globalization Enrich or Threaten Local Cultures?
The threat of Americanization?
Western ideas and products overwhelm local communities and cultures
Enrichment of cultures?
New ideas, technologies, foods, arts
Multinational corporations adapt products and business practices to conform to local traditions