‘With reference to examples from a range of scales, assess the role that key
players in political and economic decision-making play in accelerating
globalisation’ (12)
The Global Scale is the most significant out of global, supra-national, and sub-national
scales in accelerating globalisation. Key players are the WTO and the IMF, who both
contribute significantly to globalisation by regulating and encouraging trade between
countries and giving out loans. The WTO accelerates globalisation by encouraging trade
between countries and helps less affluent countries with their trading endeavours. Since
the WTO’s formation, trade tariffs have been reduced from 10% to less than 2% of the
product price. This encourages trade as it means goods cost less to import, making trade
more profitable. They have also helped to solve trade disputes between countries, such as
when the EU complained that the US placed tariffs that were too high on Boeing
aircraft. This is a good example of accelerating globalisation as it is connecting the
European Union and America. The IMF also helps to accelerate globalisation, but less
significantly than the WTO, mainly by being a reactionary organisation that tries to
ensure stability in the international monetary system. This is usually done in the form of
giving loans, such as in Ireland in 2006 when unemployment soared by 15% and the
government was spending 30% of its GDP guaranteeing the liabilities of 6 banks, the
IMF stepped in with a €67.5 billion loan. They also brought in experts from Norway
and the United States and in 2012 Ireland’s economy began to recover. The WTO is
more significant than the IMF for accelerating globalisation as it helps countries
economies, just like the IMF, but also encourages interconnectedness and
communication between countries by offering them a forum to discuss trade and future
opportunities. The IMF deals with countries directly, whereas the WTO encourages
cooperation and direct communication between countries, therefore accelerating
globalisation at a greater rate.
The supra-national scale and inter-country agreements are also significant in accelerating
globalisation, however not as significant as global scale organisations, all of this is well
evidenced by the European Union (EU). This is the largest supra-national scale
organisation and is a group of 27 European countries that try to foster economic
cooperation and create a single market. The EU helps globalisation by making its
member countries extremely interconnected. This is done by allowing free trade and
travel between countries and having European laws that can overrule a country’s own
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