Economic Globalization and Global Trade

Global North and Global South

• The Global North includes the United States, Canada, Western Europe, and developed parts of Asia
• The Global South includes the Caribbean, Latin America, South America, Africa, and parts of Asia
• These distinctions relate largely to racial inequality, specifically between Black and White populations
• Whites are disproportionately in the dominant North, while Blacks are primarily in the South, although this is changing with South-to-North migration

The Global City and Globalization

• Globalization has deeply altered North-South relations in agriculture
• The rise of global agribusiness and factory farms has changed agricultural production relations between the North and South
• The South produces non-traditional products for export and becomes increasingly dependent on industrialized food exports from the North
• This leads to the replacement of staple diets and the displacement of local farmers
• Sassen's concept of global cities describes urban centers that exert control over the world's political economy
• Global cities are categorized based on the global reach of organizations found in them

Economic Globalization and Global Trade

• Economic globalization refers to the increasing interdependence of world economies due to cross-border trade, flow of international capital, and spread of technologies
• There are two types of economies associated with economic globalization: protectionism and trade liberalization
• Protectionism involves government intervention in foreign trade to encourage domestic production and discriminate against foreign competitors
• Trade liberalization involves the removal or reduction of restrictions on the free exchange of goods between nations
• Globalization has led to some countries gaining more in the global economy at the expense of others
• Secondary labor market jobs provide fewer benefits and include lower-skilled jobs and lower-level service sector jobs

Global Corporations

• Corporations are defined as organizations that exist as legal entities with liabilities separate from their members
• Corporations operate across national boundaries, and their future is tied to global economic developments
• International trade has created and been supported by international regulatory groups and transnational trade agreements

International Financial Institutions and Economic Organizations

• International regulatory groups and agreements regulate the flow of goods and services between countries
• These groups reduce tariffs and make customs procedures easier, facilitating international trade
• Market integration is an economic system that organizes production, consumption, and trade in society
• The economy can be divided into three sectors: primary (extracting raw materials), secondary (manufacturing), and tertiary (services)
• International Financial Institutions, such as the Bretton Woods System, aim to restructure the world economy and ensure global financial stability

Dependence Theory and Modern World System

• Dependence theory suggests that less developed countries primarily serve the interests of wealthier countries
• The Modern World System model by Immanuel Wallerstein describes high-income nations as the "core" of the world economy and low-income countries as the "periphery"
• The periphery remains economically dependent on the core in various ways, which tend to reinforce each other (also called neocolonialism)