Discussion Assessment Report 1– (do not exceed 2 pages)

1.      Select one of the topics below and post a new comment (no more than 600 words) in the discussion forums for this course located below.

2.      Respond to one of the comments posted by another student (no more than 400 words). Do you agree with their comment? Are there points of convergence and points of divergence between you and your chosen posting? What are they? If there is no posting for you to comment on right away, keep checking back right up until the end of the course.

o   Topic 1: Defining Globalization

Present your understanding of globalization. How do you define globalization? (Be aware that there is no consensus yet on what this concept means precisely.) On the basis of your definition, does globalization seem to be beneficial to the world at large? Does it have negative consequences? Provide evidence and reasons to support your position.

o   Topic 2: Global crisis

How did “free market fundamentalism” contribute to the US/global financial crisis of 2008? How do the makers of the film The Inside Job criticise public and private actors in this crisis? What role did the US state play (or refused to play) in this crisis? Why? Can you draw parallels between this crisis and the 1997-98 East Asian crisis?

o   Topic 3: Contrasting Sites: the World Social Forum versus World Economic Forum.

At the website of the World Social Forum, review the debates and relevant evidence around a particular issue (for example, fresh water or GM foods). Pay particular attention to the use of key terms. How the assumptions and discussions on this site differ from those of the World Economic Forum. held in Davos, Switzerland?

Prepare a report that synthesizes your thoughts on the topic and present it with your first assignment for grading. Your report should not exceed 600 words (two pages double spaced) and present a fair representation of your evaluation and analysis of the topic, and include an overview of your thoughts and personal musings on the problems and issues introduced in the activities and what you learned in Module 1. In addition, you can refer to questions that arose from your work on the activities. If you replied to questions posed by other class participants, indicate what your replies were and whether your interaction with other participants increased your understanding of the themes and subject of the topics. This report is an executive summary of the relevant issues/theory raised in the module activities, therefore do not copy and paste from what you presented on the discussion board but synthesize the information, i.e. rephrase and bring out the key issues and commentary to inform and enlighten a reader unfamiliar with the topic.

Global Crisis:

Free market fundamentalism refers to a market that is free from government regulations. The government cannot interfere with the prices, products, and operation costs of businesses and organizations in a free market. The U.S. global financial crisis of 2008 occurred after the subprime mortgage bubble burst. Prior to the crisis, investment banks were offering many loans to individuals who could not keep up with their mortgage payments (Helleiner, 2011). The availability of loans led to an increase in the number of homeowners who, in turn, took out mortgages believing that the real estate market would continue to rise. However, since many individuals could not keep up with their payments, many foreclosures and people were no longer interested in purchasing homes, thus leading to the plummeting of real estate.

The makers of the film The Inside Jobcriticize the public actors since they did not take action soon enough to avert the crisis. The film showcases that despite there being signs that the subprime mortgage sector was no longer able to sustain its activities, the government stood at the sidelines and did nothing to avert the situation. Moreover, the private sector, especially individuals in real estate, were enjoying the high returns that they were not worried about the increasing number of individuals taking out mortgages that they could not afford to pay back. All the parties involved concentrated on the profits that they failed to see the obvious signs of the economy failing.

The U.S. global financial crisis has the same impact as the East Asian crisis of 1997 since the ripple effects were felt all over the world. In both situations, the government had to step in to salvage the situation. The federal government had to bail out many banks to prevent the economy from completely failing. In Thailand, where the East Asian crisis began, the Thai government had to float the baht to maintain its currency peg to the dollar (Woo, Sachs,& Schwab, 2000).

References

Helleiner, E. (2011). Understanding the 2007–2008 global financial crisis: Lessons for scholars of international political economy. Annual Review of Political Science, 14, 67-87.Top of Form

Woo, W. T., Sachs, J., & Schwab, K. (2000). The Asian financial crisis: Lessons for a resilient Asia. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Peer Posting:

Unit 1 Topic 2 Global Crisis

by Elma Hamming – Sunday, 1 September 2019, 9:57 AM

Topic 2: Global crisis

How did “free market fundamentalism” contribute to the US/global financial crisis of 2008? How do the makers of the film The Inside Job criticize public and private actors in this crisis? What role did the US state play (or refused to play) in this crisis? Why? Can you draw parallels between this crisis and the 1997-98 East Asian crisis?

Controls in the form of the Glass-Steagall Act (GSA) in 1999 put in place after the Great Depression, to balance the ship, basically the structure to stabilize the financial economy so if any one thing failed it would sink the whole thing.  The deregulation through its repeal and replacement by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Heakal, 2019) destabilized the financial industry and led to a crisis because riskier investments were pursued on a global scale and eventually led to the 2008 global financial crisis (Ferguson & Marrs, 2010)

The makers of the film criticize the public and private actors in this crisis by asking them pointed questions that back them into a corner where they refuse to answer or ask the filming to stop.

The appointment of bank CEOs and certain academics as financial authorities in USA contributed to the crisis through lack of accountability, and they covered for each other so there were no indictments for defrauding people.

The US state also played a part by bailing out the US banks to protect the banking shareholders and executives, because the market was an international market it had international consequences when loans defaulted, and money could not be repaid that were hedged against.

There are parallels between this crisis and the 1997-98 East Asian crisis.  In both situations IMF policies undermined the system (Ellwood, 2010, p. 27) and the 1997-98 crisis was just a warmup.  In both situations heavy, speculative investment occurred but when panic struck, investors pulled out suddenly and crashed the economies.

References

Ellwood, W. (2010). The No-Nonsense Guide to Globalization. Ottawa: New Internationalist Publications Ltd.

Ferguson, C., Marrs, A. (Producers), & Ferguson, C. (Director). (2010). Inside Job [Motion Picture]. Retrieved 08 05, 2019, from https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Inside_Job?id=JB2_X-RMSHs&hl=en_US

Heakal, R. (2019, 02 13). What was the Glass-Steagall Act. Retrieved 08 14, 2019, from Investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/071603.asp

Assessment Report 2– (do not exceed 2 pages) Instructions

1.      Select one of the topics below and post a new comment (no more than 600 words) in the discussion forums below.

2.      Respond to one of the comments posted by another student (no more than 400 words). Do you agree with their comment? Point out any points of convergence and points of divergence between your posting and your chosen one. If there is no posting for you to comment on right away, keep checking back right up until the end of the course.

o   Topic 1: Structural adjustment and ideology

Use the Web to research in what specific way structural adjustment demands from the IMF and/or World Bank have affected the fate of a country of your choice. Briefly summarize your findings in your posting and explain in what way ideology was responsible for these results.

o   Topic 2: Critiques of the IMF

Use the Web to find critical commentary on the role of the IMF. Summarize, review, present your findings and compare them with the views of one of the authors listed in the readings for Unit 2.

o   Topic 3: Critiques of the World Bank

Use the Web to find critical commentary on the role of the World Bank. Summarize, review, present your findings and compare them with the views of one of the authors listed in the readings for Unit 2.

Prepare a report that synthesizes your thoughts on the topic and present it with your first assignment for grading. Your report should not exceed 600 words (two pages double spaced) and present a fair representation of your evaluation and analysis of the topic, and include an overview of your thoughts and personal musings on the problems and issues introduced in the activities and what you learned in Module 1. In addition, you can refer to questions that arose from your work on the activities. If you replied to questions posed by other class participants, indicate what your replies were and whether your interaction with other participants increased your understanding of the themes and subject of the topics. This report is an executive summary of the relevant issues/theory raised in the module activities, therefore do not copy and paste from what you presented on the discussion board but synthesize the information, i.e. rephrase and bring out the key issues and commentary to inform and enlighten a reader unfamiliar with the topic.

Critiques of the IMF

The international monetary fund is an international organization comprising of 189 member countries. The goal and objectives of the organization are to acquire financial stability, develop international trade, lower poverty levels in the world, and facilitate global monetary appropriation, among others. The organization relies on the World Bank to provide them with the resources they need to facilitate their operations (Dzhashi & Portnaya, 2011). The member countries can approach the organization at any time to borrow money to develop their economy.

At first, the organization aimed at helping nations that were lagging behind in development and economic stability toachieve stability. However, over the years, there seem to be underlying reasons for the development of organizations since many of the countries that go through the IMF to borrow funds have experienced economic problems. IMF, before granting any country a loan, provides terms and conditions that countries have to implement (Dzhashi & Portnaya, 2011). One of the conditions that the organization provides is that the country should adopt policies that give the organization the authority to interfere with some of the operations in the said countries. Some of the nations have been forced to participate in free trade with other countries, while others have to allow the body to dictate how the government spends its money.

The organization cares more about the interest that it will make from the loans given than the economic development of the borrowing countries. Many of the borrowing nations end up incurring huge debts due to the high-interest rates. Although some countries have attained economic freedom by borrowing from the organization, some are still in debt despite their continuous borrowing. Therefore, the organization favors the interest of some members while it takes advantage of other members.

References

Dzhashi, M. & Portnaya, M. (2011, April 15). IMF and World Bank’s aid tightens noose around poor nations [Video file]. Retrieved from: http://rt.com/news/imf-world-bank-countries/

Peer Posting

Critiques of the IMF

by weilun chen – Tuesday, 19 November 2019, 3:22 PM

According to Goodman P. (2006), the World Bank failed to help increase incomes of many poor and developing countries over the past decades, leaving millions of people suffering and decreasing their living standards. Based on his study, one of five countries that borrowed from the World Bank increased for a full decade from 1995 to 2005. This proves that the World Bank does not actually help countries at all, especially the poor ones. It only provides for those country who are already rich to make them develop constantly, rather than the poor countries. This belief supports the idea or concept of Stiglitz (2002) who said that the IMF support and gives greater opportunities for the rich and develop countries while leaving the poor behind, having hard time or difficulties in raising and paying their own depts. It shows that the IMF has a bias between the capability or growth of a country. Having favor with the rich countries that may give or return the favor itself to the IMF, unlike the developing and poor countries which may not give and return the favor to the IMF because of their status as a country. It is like corruption in a government inside a country.

References:

Goodman P. (2006); An Internal Report Criticizes World Bank’s Efforts on Poverty. Global Policy Forum: https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/209/42790.html.

Stiglitz, J. (2002). Globalization and Its Discontents. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.

Assessment Report 3– (do not exceed 2 pages) Instructions

1.      Select one of the topics below and post a new comment (no more than 600 words) in the discussion forums below:

o   Topic 1: Corporate Power

Discuss the ways multinational corporations are able to use the WTO and other trade agreements to further their interests. Use the concepts learnt in this unit and illustrate with one or more specific examples.

o   Topic 2: Democracy or the Environment?

Use the web to find evidence and discuss whether international trade agreements can be seen as a threat to either the environment or to democracy. Use the concepts learnt in this unit and illustrate with examples.

o   Topic 3: Social Justice Movements

If you, or someone you know, have been involved in a social justice movement, or if you’re familiar with and supportive of one, discuss an example of what you consider a success of such movement. What were the reasons for success? If the activist efforts that you are sharing about were not successful, explain why.

In the appropriate discussion forum, respond to one of the comments posted by another student (no more than 400 words). Do you agree with their comment? Explain. If there is no posting for you to comment on right away, keep checking back right up until the end of the course.

Prepare a report that synthesizes your thoughts on the topic and present it with your first assignment for grading. Your report should not exceed 600 words (two pages double spaced) and present a fair representation of your evaluation and analysis of the topic, and include an overview of your thoughts and personal musings on the problems and issues introduced in the activities and what you learned in Module 1. In addition, you can refer to questions that arose from your work on the activities. If you replied to questions posed by other class participants, indicate what your replies were and whether your interaction with other participants increased your understanding of the themes and subject of the topics. This report is an executive summary of the relevant issues/theory raised in the module activities, therefore do not copy and paste from what you presented on the discussion board but synthesize the information, i.e. rephrase and bring out the key issues and commentary to inform and enlighten a reader unfamiliar with the topic.

Corporate Power:

Multinational companies rely on trade agreements to further their economic interests in other countries. The world trade agreement aims at giving member countries a fair platform where they can conduct their business with other countries. It helps organizations to have a peaceful and fruitful experience when importing and exporting goods. Multinational organizations rely on the world trade organization since it removes some of the barriers experienced in trade (Peet, 2009). One of the ways that the organization helps is that member countries reduce the import and export countries for each other so that the costs of doing business can be reduced. Multinational companies can maximize their profits in the regions they operate in since they do not have to pay high tariffs as countries who are not members of the organizations.

Trade agreements are crucial since they not only open up the market of member countries but also lead to economic dependence among member countries. Multinational companies find it easy to work in places where their countries have trade agreements since their goods can be sold in bulk (Peet, 2009). The corporations can export as many of their goods as possible to the country without worrying about competing brands from the said countries since they have been permitted to carry on with the trade.

Organizations need not worry much about the legal issues they have to address when conducting business in the region since many of the legal issues are taken care of under the trade agreements. The trade agreements allow member countries to allow each other to set up businesses in the given countries. Multinational companies can, therefore, instead of importing and exporting goods to a given region, set up companies that will not only produce the goods but also supply them in the selected country.

References

Peet, R. (2009). Unholy Trinity; the IMF, World Bank, and WTO. 2nd ed. New York: Zed Books

Peer Posting

The Use of WTO and Other Trade Agreements by Multinational Corporations

by Junxiang Bi – Monday, 24 June 2019, 3:54 PM

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international agency that formulates the rules regarding all kinds of trade between countries at a global level. The trade agreements prepared by the organizations are signed by the providers of services and products, exporters, and importers in order to facilitate legally approved business. Other trade agreements that influence multinational corporations (MNCs) include the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), European Union (EU) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation (APEC). Multinational corporations rely on the trade agreements, especially from the WTO, to set competition, product availability, and taxes and tariffs. Notably, MNCs can further their interests through the establishment of trade discipline and easing jurisdictional restrictions (Bradford, 2010). For instance, WTO has a program characterized by a gradual and consistent reduction of tariffs as a way of enhancing free trade. MNCs achieve their trade objectives through raised bans, lowered taxes and established international trade structures by the WTO and other trade organizations.

Additionally, WTO provides a legal framework through which business is conducted. MNCs enjoy an enabling trade environment since the agreements are legally binding, and violations result in negative consequences. Additionally, they also benefit from the legal certainties of the trade agreements involved in international business (Bradford, 2010). Interests of these corporations are also accomplished as the trade agreement agencies have facilitated the elimination of discrimination. Specifically, trade and other business interactions are impartially enabled, and no state or region under the agreement faces limitations. Moreover, WTO has created the economies of collective action. As a result, MNCs can mitigate additional costs that arise from participation in international trade. The other trade agreements form market stabilization by preventing illegal trade that would distort the market prices and trade patterns. As a result, MNCs identify market opportunities and utilize them as a way of furthering their agendas, objectives and general goals.

Bradford, A. (2010). When the WTO works, and how it fails. Va. J. Int’l L., 51, 1.