Is globalisation a positive or negative phenomenon?
Even though globalisation is, broadly speaking, a force for good, not everybody benefits equally from globalisation. In general, globalisation benefits the richer and more educated segments of society more than the poorer and less educated segments. Nonetheless, as Kofi Annnan, the former UN Secretary-General, rightly noted, “The poor are poor not because of too much globalisation but because of too little.” As is obvious, the poorest segments of China and India are those people who are not connected to the global economy. How long do you think it will be before Asian countries enjoy similar living standards as those in the west? Asia is a very diverse continent. Japan, Singapore, and South Korea already belong to the set of advanced rather than emerging economies. For the others (such as Malaysia, China, and India), at the entire country level (as compared with posh areas of Tier 1 cities), it’ll still be 3 to 4 decades before the average citizen enjoys the same living standards as th
