From U.S. Democratic Presidential candidates to America's unemployed, people are talking about the global economy and job loss for U.S. workers. Catch phrases like outsourcing, protectionism, free trade and fair trade circulate in conversations and media programs, but what does it all mean? This Topic in Depth reviews some websites that address these issues from different perspectives.
This article from Issues in Science and Technology provides an overview of some of the issues and impacts on technology research and scientific training. (1). A good deal of the websites on globalization follow a format similar to this website (2), providing articles, statistics on outsourcing, discussion groups, and generally opposing globalization. This website from the Cato Institute provides another perspective on outsourcing (3), noting that it's "not just a one way street." The World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization (4) takes the perspective that globalization is irreversible and seeks "innovative ways of combining economic, social and environmental objectives, based on worldwide expertise." In some circles, the debate is between "fair trade" and "free trade." This organization (5) provides a definition of fairness, asks others for their views on fairness, and offers some standards for fairness in terms of business practices. The Center for International Development at Harvard University offers this website as "an objective entry point to the many trade-related resources on the internet" (6). Another extensive overview of some of the issues is offered by this Global Issues website (7), which "attempts to highlight some of the misconceptions and unfairness in the current model for global trading, economics and the current form of overly corporate-led globalization." The Globalisation Guide (8) is designed as a resource for students, highlighting some of the key questions to ask as the debate continues.
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