lesson eight globalization’s dual power by robert. j. samuelson

Lesson Eight

Globalization’s Dual Power

By Robert. J. Samuelson

Contents

Part One: Warm-up

Part Two: Background Information

Part Three: Text Appreciation Part Four: Detailed Study

Part Five: Assignment

Warm up

• Is globalization a good thing or a bad thing?

• Will globalization simply mean Americanization?

Background information

1. About the author

• Robert J. Samuelson

• Samuelson is a 1967 graduate of Harvard University with a B.A. in government. Based in Washington, D.C., Samuelson began his journalism career as a reporter on The Washington Post's Business Desk in 1969. After four years he left the paper to freelance. He has been published by The Sunday

Times (London), The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and The Columbia Journalism Review. Samuelson joined The National Journal as an economics correspondent in 1976 and began writing the "Economic Focus" column. He became a contributing editor in 1981 and left the magazine

in 1984. Robert Samuelson joined Newsweek as a contributing editor in 1984, and has become one of the magazine's most recognized writers for his biweekly columns analyzing and reporting socioeconomic issues. In addition to his Newsweek column, Samuelson writes a

biweekly column which appears in The

Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times,

The Boston Globe and other papers.

• The Awards

Samuelson has earned many journalism awards, including the 1993 John Hancock Award for Best Business and Financial Columnist and the 1993 Gerald

Background information

2. The Asia’s Financial Crisis

The Asian financial crisis was initiated by two

rounds of currency depreciation that have been

occurring since early summer 1997. The first round

was a precipitous drop in the value of the Thai baht,

Malaysian ringgit, Philippine peso, and Indonesian

rupiah. As these currencies stabilized, the second

round began with downward pressures hitting the

Taiwan dollar, South Korean won, Brazilian real, Singaporean

dollar, and Hong Kong dollar. Governments have countered the weakness in their currencies by selling foreign exchange reserves and raising interest rates, which, in turn, have slowed economic growth and have made interest-bearing securities more attractive than equities. The currency crises also have revealed severe problems in the banking and financial sectors of the troubled Asian economies.

Background information

3. The European Union

It was founded in November, 1993 in order to enhance

political, economic, and social cooperation among members.

It was formerly known as the European Community or the

European Economic Community. It is headquartered in

Brussels, Belgium. The EU has grown in size with successive

waves of accessions. Denmark, Ireland and the United

Kingdom joined in 1973 followed by Greece in 1981, Spain

and Portugal in 1986 and Austria, Finland and Sweden

in 1995. The European Union welcomed ten new

countries in 2004: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,

Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia

and Slovenia. Bulgaria and Romania expect to follow in

2007; Croatia and Turkey are beginning membership

negotiations in 2005.

To ensure that the enlarged EU can continue functioning efficiently, it needs a more streamlined system for taking decisions. That is why the Treaty of Nice lays down new rules governing the size of the EU institutions and the way they work. It came into force on 1 February 2003. It will be replaced, in 2006, by the new EU Constitution—if all EU countries approve of it.

The single currency—the euro—became a reality on 1 January 2002, when euro notes and coins replaced national currencies in twelve of the 15 countries of the EU (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland).

Background information

4. The World Bank The World Bank is a vital source of financial and

technical assistance to developing countries around the world. One of the world’s largest sources of development assistance, the World Bank supports the efforts of developing country governments to build schools and health centers, provide water and electricity, fight disease, and protect the environment. The World Bank is not a

“bank” in the common sense. It is one of the United Nations’ specialized agencies, and is made up of 184 member countries. These countries are jointly responsible for how the institution is financed and how its money is spent. Along with the rest of the development community, the World Bank centers its efforts on reaching the Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by UN members in 2000 and aimed at sustainable poverty reduction.

It is made up of two unique development institutions owned by 184 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Each institution plays a different but supportive role in their mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world.

Background information

5. The World Trade Organization

Established in 1995, the World Trade

Organization (WTO) is a powerful new

global commerce agency, which transformed

the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

(GATT) into an enforceable global

commerce code. The WTO is one of the main

mechanisms of corporate globalization. It is

based in Geneva.

Background information

6. The Cold War Cold War, term used to describe the post-World War II struggle

between the United States and its allies and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies. During the Cold War period, which lasted from the mid-1940s until the end of the 1980s, international politics were heavily shaped by the intense rivalry between these two great blocs of power and the political ideologies they represented: democracy and capitalism in the case of the United States and its allies, and Communism in the case of the Soviet bloc. The principal allies of the United States during the Cold War included Britain, France, West Germany, Japan, and Canada. On the Soviet side were many of the countries of Eastern Europe—including Bulgaria), Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, and Romania—and, during parts of the Cold War, Cuba and China. Countries that had no formal commitment to either bloc were known as neutrals or, within the Third World, as nonaligned nations

Text Appreciation

1. Theme

Globalization is a double-edged sword: a promise to help everyone and a peril to hurt everyone.

Text Appreciation 2. Structure

• Part 1 (Paras. 1— 2 ) about: The author points out the topic—globalization is a double-edged sword and what it will bring to the one involved.

• Part 2 (Paras.3— 34 ) about: The author discusses the topic in detail by exemplification and finds it hard to decide. We can only wait and see.

Text Appreciation

3. Writing Devices

• Parallelism: similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses

e.g. 1. At the edge of a new century, globalization is a double-edged sword: a powerful vehicle that raises economic growth, spreads new technology and raises living standards in rich and poor countries alike,… (Para. 1)

-------Three verb phrases are coordinatedly used as predicate of the attributive clause.

Text Appreciation 4. Questions for discussion

1. What are the positive aspect and the negative effect of globalization?

Please discuss in groups with the examples to show the positive and negative effects of globalization.

2. Do the merits/advantages of current globalization outweigh its demerits/disadvantages?

3. What’s the author Robert J. Samuelson’s opinion?

Detailed study of the Text

• 1. At the edge of a new century, globalization is a double-edged sword: a powerful vehicle that raises economic growth, spread new technology and increases living standards in rich and poor countries alike but also an immensely controversial process that assaults national sovereignty; erodes local culture and tradition and threatens economic and social instability. (Para.1)

Paraphrase:

As the new century approaches, globalization means two different things. It can have both negative and positive effects. On the one hand, it can greatly increase economic production, spread new technology and improve the living standards in both rich and poor countries; on the other hand, it is highly controversial because it threatens national;; sovereignty, destroys local culture and traditions, and is likely to cause economic and social instability.

doubled-edged: sth that is double-edged acts in two easy, both positive and negative

e.g.

The increase in petrol prices is double-edged because it will make life harder for some, but it will reduce congestion and pollution.She paid me a double-edged compliment, saying my work was excellent for a beginner.vehicle: sth you use to achieve sth elseeg. The conference was seen as an ideal vehicle for increased cooperation between the member states.

2. The Cold War, from the late 940s through the 980s, caused the United States to champion trade liberalization and economic growth as a way of combating communism. (Para.4) Analysis: The cold War was a state of extreme hostility between

countries with opposing political system existing after the Second World War to the demise of the Soviet Union --- the “ socialist camp” headed by the Soviet Union and the “free world” headed by the United States, which expressed itself not through shooting wars, but through fierce economic competition, as well as through political and military pressure and threats. During the Cold War, the United States enthusiastically fought for trade liberalization partly in order to prevent communism.

to combat: to try to stop sth unpleasant or harmful from happening or increasing

e. g. The government is spending millions of dollars in its attempt to combat drug abuse.to combat crime/ terrorism/ inflation

3. Europeans saw economic unifications as an antidote to deadly nationalism. (Para.5)Analysis:

Europeans regarded economic unification as a way to prevent nationalism. They knew that what had caused two world wars could cause more if they could not curb this nationalism by turning Europe into a common market first and then organizing it into some kind of political union. This was the vision of a Few far-sighted politicians in Europe. Today, after nearly half a century’s Herculean effort, this dream is beginning to come true.

4. Para.7Credit ： an amount of money placed by a bank at the

disposal of a client, against which he may draw信贷

loan: a sum of money which is borrowed, often form a bank, and has to be paid back, esp. together with an additional amount of money that you have to pay as a charge of borrowing --- called “interest”e. g. She’s trying to get a $50,000 loan to start her own business. 贷款

The World Bank: an international organization which was formed in 1945 to help rebuild war-torn Europe, but soon afterward began to focus on the underdeveloped world to bring them into the international economy.

5. A decade later, even after Asia’s 1997-98 financial crisis, private capital flows dwarf governmental flows. (Para.8)

• Paraphrase: The years later, even after Asia’s financial crisis

of 1997-98, private capital flows are still greater in number than governmental capital flows.

• flow: movement in one direction, esp. continuously and easilye. g. The flow of traffic/ goods/ supplies/ ideas/ information

6. The recent takeover struggle between British and German wireless giants exceptional only for its size and bitterness. (Para.10)

• Paraphrase: The only difference between the recent takeover struggle

between British and German radio giants and other cases is that this takeover is much bigger an da lot more bitter.

exceptional: being an exception; uncommon; extraordinarye. g.

She has exceptional ability as a pianist.The company has shown exceptional growth over the post two years.

7. In Europe, the relentless pursuit of the single market is one indicator. This reflects a widespread recognition that European companies will be hard-pressed to compete in global markets if their local operations are hamstrung by fragmented national markets. (Para.13)Paraphrase:

In Europe, the persistent and unremitting effort to turn all countries on the continent into a single market shows that there is a general agreement that if the European market remains divided into many small parts behind national borders, their companies will not be able to compete in the international market.

8. Meanwhile, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa --- whose embrace of the world economy has been late or limited --- fared much less well. (Para.17)Paraphrase:

Meanwhile, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, whose integration with the world economy has been late and limited, were not so lucky.

9. The global economy may be prone to harsher boom-bust cycles than national economies individually. (Para.19)

Paraphrase: Once integrated with the world market, nations

will naturally be more vulnerable to the fluctuations of the world economy. The capital flows in and out a country, for example, can

create a boom or bust very quickly and with much harsher effectsboom: a period of sudden economic growth or

prosperity as opposed to bust idiomatic pairs of nouns: boom and bust

She walked out, bag and baggage, and left him.I am all for it, body and soul.It was just a bread and better job.Modern spies no longer fit in with our traditional image of cloak-and dagger adventures.A new nation was born through the test of fire and sword.We will never go to war against our own flesh and blood.

They were bound hand and foot. friend and foe; land and sea; heart and soul; part and parcel; vice and virtue; skin and bone; profit and loss; pin and needles

10. The Asian financial crisis raised questions on both counts. (Para.20)

• Paraphrase: The Asian financial crisis brought these two

questions to people’s attention; investment funds were not well used and trade flows became too lopsided.

• on both counts: on both points under discussione.g.

I’m afraid I do not agree with you on all counts.

11. it became apparent that as a result of “crony capitalism”, inept government policies and excess optimism, much of the investment had been wasted on unneeded factories, office buildings and apartments. (Para.21)

• Paraphrase: It became clear that because of the corruption in

those countries where political and financial resources are in the hands of a few privileged people along with their dishonest friends, their foolish government policies and unreasonable optimism, much of the investment was wasted on unneeded factories and a real estate bubble.

• crony capitalism: an economic, political and social system controlled by a small gang of people bonded by private interests and based on favoritism.

11. current account: an account of credits, debits, receipts, and expenditures between tow countries.经常项目账目

Balance of payment: the difference between a country’s imports and exports国际收支balance of payments surplus国际收支顺差 /赢余balance of payments deficit国际收支逆差 /亏损

12. The world economy … has been flying on one engine. (Para.21)Paraphrase:

The world economy has been driven by only one country’s economy, namely the economy of the United States. In other words, the world has become too dependent on one country’s prosperity.

13. It remains possible the abrupt surges of global capital, first moving into Asia and then out, will have caused, with some delay, a larger instability. (Para.28)

• Paraphrase: It is still possible that sudden increase or withdrawal

of the world’s capital, first moving into Asia and then out of it, will have made Asia more unstable.

• surge: a sudden and great increase, or a sudden and great movement forwarde. g. There has been a surge in house prices recently.A sudden surge of imports can threaten a domestic industry.The company did not expect the surge in demand for their products.

14. The street protesters at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization in early December may have lacked a common agenda or even a coherent case against trade. But they accurately reflected the anxiety and anger that globalization often inspires. So do European fears of genetically modified food or nationalistic opposition to cross-border mergers. (Para.30)

• Paraphrase: The street at the Seattle meeting of the World Trade

Organization in early December may not have a common program or even good reasons against free trade. But they showed clearly their worries and anger about globalization. European fears of GM food or opposition to cross-border mergers also showed their worries and anger.

• a case against sth: grounds for opposing sth• nationalistic opposition: opposition based on your

loyalty to your nation’s interests viewed as separate from international common interests

• genetically modified food转基因食品 15. Just because globalization is largely spontaneous

propelled by better communication and transportation --- does not mean that it is inevitable or completely irreversible. Government can … shield local industries and workers against imports or discriminate against foreign investors. (Para.32)Paraphrase:

just because globalization on the whole occurred quite naturally as result of better communications and transportation, it does not mean that it is bound to happen and can not be turned back. Government can … protect local industries and workers against imported products or discriminate against foreign investors.

16. But this does not mean that a powerful popular backlash, with unpredictable consequences, is not possible. (Para.33)Paraphrase:

But this does not mean that a powerful hostile reaction from ordinary people, which will have unpredictable consequences, is not possible.

17. A plausible presumption is that practical politicians would try to protect their constituents form global gluts. (Para.33)Paraphrase:

We can presume that practical politicians would no doubt try to protect their voters from the flood of products from other countries.

18. It’s a scary prospect. Economic interdependence cuts both ways. (Para.35)

Paraphrase: It’s a terrifying possibility. Economic mutual dependence can have

good and bad effects. to cut both ways: (infml) to have disadvantages as well as

advantages 19. Globalization’s promise may exceed its peril --- but the peril is

still real. But await the new century. One of the great dramas will be to see which prevails. (Para.35)Paraphrase:

Globalization may bring us more advantages than disadvantages --- but the dangers are still there. But let’s wait and see how things will develop in the new century. One of the most interesting things will be to see which will be greater: the advantages or the disadvantages.

Assignment

• Writing Writing

Please use 200 words to describe what the world/ the country/ the city will be like in 20 years with the progress of globalization.

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