Globalisation as a Cause of Poverty and Inequality Essay

Globalisation as a Cause of Poverty and Inequality - Essay Example    However, the international capital inflows can be reversed to create boom-and-bust cycles that can be detrimental to the social welfare of the affected regions. Globalization encourages labor mobility (Lecher and Boil, 2012). However, skilled and specialized labor force may take advantage of the global market to access markets with high demand and low skill supply. Globalization may also enhance immobility; unskilled workers are prevented from migrating to developed nations. Currently, globalization poses a scenario based on the idyllic view of the general globe where technology and capital have a free flow in a market where access to knowledge and information is vast, efficient markets, and where there is equity in market participation capacities among the households. Globalisation can partially be attributed to the increasing improvements made in the technological field, minimized costs of transportation, as well as due to some deliberate choosing on behalf of many nations to further integrate their economies with the global economy. In essence, globalization refers to capital market liberalization, trade restrictions’ removal, for instance, quotas and tariffs, and free movements of human resources. All these can be considered to be economic globalization’s indicators. The 80s and 90s saw many countries open up their borders leading to reduced restrictions on direct foreign investment as well as curtailing quantitative controls on imports which reduced the tariff rates.   In general, the process of liberalisation and globalisation leads to reduced poverty and high economic growth and development. Globalisation comes in many facets hence a mixed set of outcomes. The argument brought about by anti-globalists is that globalisation has adverse effects on poor people in LDCs. Countries such as the US had thrived in managing the process of globalisation incisively proving that globalisation can be a driving force to economic growth and development and those incapable of managing the process ended up with dismal economic growth and development as well as increased poverty and high inequality in income distribution, showing the adverse effects globalisation can have. A number of issues have been highlighted linking globalisation to inequality: i. Inequal ity rates have increased since the 80s. ii. This high inequality rates are caused by other factors other than the traditional factors i.e. urban bias, education inequality, and concentration of land. iii. High inequality levels can decrease