Is globalization good or bad overall?
This is the second post dedicated to online debates on globalization issues. In our first post we introduced debates on TTP,
globalization pros and cons and overlapping national and regional identities. In this post we continue offering
high quality debates emerged from the increasing interconnectedness across the globe:
Are multinational corporations replacing states as the main actors in the international arena?
Some multinational corporations are more powerful in economic terms than many states. 147 companies control 40% of the total wealth in the world. Corporations accoount for 2/3 of world exports, and 1/3 of world trade is estimated to be intra-firm trade between multinational companies. These corporations are clear beneficiaries of globalization, and have established a global oligopoly in many sectors such as autobile, chocolate, airplane, smart phone and beer industries. Since they can operate outside and across national boundaries, it is difficult to monitor and regulate any negative behavior. States, worried about possible job losses if companies move elsewhere, are loth to restrict corporations' behaviour. Therefore, multinational corporations are increasingly seen as excessively large and powerful, even a threat for governments and democracies.
Are the largest corporations gradually replacing states as the main units of power in the world? Checkout this
debate and poll here.
