Globalisation which is the integration of today's world and interdependence between governments, countries, corporations and people due to the revolution of information and communications technology has brought about the continuous lowering of trade barriers and has benefited all of us generally. However, it benefits the rich more than all in the other social strata. Mega international corporations have helped in creating jobs in poorer countries and their economy to grow but they are growing even more as a result of this 'aid'.
Globalisation is a biased blessing. The highly educated, the highly skilled and the competent are given vast choices of mobility and career paths. These people are chosen to be out-stationed to other countries to work, to be the top of what they are doing, gain experience and as a result receive larger amounts of pay. these opportunities are never or rarely open to the poor.
Multinational and trans-national corporations (MNCs and TNCs) have opened up their market to the poorer countries almost alleviating the problem of unemployment. This has helped to improve the economic growth of countries such as China and Brazil. In 1990, the gross domestic product (GDP) per head in poorer countries was 5% compared to the rich countries of 2%. The poor countries are benefiting from this as they have an income to support themselves as well as their family compared to then when they could not even have enough money to pay for their own daily needs. Now more people in poor countries can afford to own motorcycles.
However, their good intention does have an underlying agenda. Opening up business in poor countries means that labour is cheap as compared to labour in developed countries. Exploitation of the poor runs across many of these mega corporations. Their workers are paid appalling wages that are disproportionate to the labour they are doing. For instance, the CEO of Disney earns approximately US$9783 an hour while Haitian workers producing Disney merchandise earn $0.
