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Economic Globalization: From Past to Present

Johnny L. Washington Jr.

JURI-630

June 25, 2017

Dr. Yuri Mantilla

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Economic Globalization: From Past to Present

Thesis Statement: As historically distinct and sovereign nations amalgamate their individual

markets and economies by means of globalization in pursuit of economic growth and national

superiority in business and commerce, cultural and political clashes are inevitable, necessitating

cross-cultural intelligence and understanding of global economic history and national history for

the creation and sustainment of equitable, mutually beneficial, efficient, and free-flowing trade.

What is Economic Globalization and De-Globalization?

The sovereignty of an individual nation is impacted by its ability to engage in consistent

trade and commerce. The need for raw materials from neighboring nations facilitates what is

commonly referred to as economic globalization. There are manifold definitions of economic

globalization articulated by scholars, economists, and legal theorists. David Hale and Anthony

McGrew define economic globalization as an endeavor which embodies a conversion of social-

relations and commercial transactions, evaluated in terms of their “extensity, intensity, velocity,

and impact”, as they produce multifaceted transcontinental and interregional networks of

commerce related exchanges and exercises of individual national and governmental authority

and power1. A more concise definition of economic globalization is “the increase in trade and

capital transfers across national boundaries2”. A concrete and functional definition of economic

globalization is expressed as “a set of economic processes that bind international actors together

in a web of mutual interdependence3. Hence, economic globalization not only encompasses the

purchase, selling, and trade of goods and services across international lines, but also the

exchange and conflict of social norms, political views, military presence, and legal theory. Some

1
Bederman, D. J. (2008). Globalization and International Law, Preface, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
2
Duncan, S. G. (2010). The Greatest Story Oversold: Understanding Economic Globalization, Ch. 2.
Maryknoll: Orbis Books.
3
Bederman, D. J. (2008). Globalization and International Law, pg. 27, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
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economists and professors of economics and global commerce also define economic

globalization as the trend towards a singular integrated world economic system inclusive of the

globalization of markets and the globalization of production.

Economic globalization and the activities, successes, and failures of multinational

corporations should not be misconstrued. Multination corporations are generally chartered and

incorporated in one nation, possessing auxiliary branches and subsidiaries in other nations,

conducting business and commerce operations in a number of sovereign countries, adjusting its

operations, strategic business planning, and merchandise to cater to each country of its

operations4. A global corporate activity or global economic endeavor conduct their operations

with defined consistency and lower operational costs as a single entity5. Economic globalization

and multinational enterprise activities are often possessive of convoluted and amalgamated

definitions due to their mutual effects upon one another which are inclusive of technological

advancements that rapidly increase the mobility of capital and currency, in addition to enhanced

international communication and coordination abilities via electronic banking and media, and

global competition for economic power, position, and superiority amongst sovereign nations and

multination business enterprises in the global market6.

It is also technological advancements that allow sovereign nations to maintain their

individuality while engaging in cross-national business operations, employing their individual

ideologies in the efforts such as North Korea with their manufacturing methodologies and Japan

4
Folsom, R. H., Gordon, M. W., Spanogle, J. A., Fitzgerald, P. L., & Van Alstine, M. P. (2012).
International Business Transactions, 11th Edition, pg. 8, St. Paul: West Publishing Company.
5
Levitt, T. (1984). The globalization of markets, pg. 3, The McKinsey Quarterly, 2-20.
6
Hood, N., & Young, S. (2000). The Globalization of Multinational Enterprise Activity and Economic
Development, pg. 57, New York: St. Martins Press Inc.
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with their continuous process improvement prowess7. Professor John Hooker expresses that the

global economy is becoming deglobalized vice globalized due to the rise of emerging and

developing economic power centers such as Japan, India, Korea, and China due to their ability to

leverage their economic and cultural advantages in the global market, thereby shifting the

economic balance of power from the west to the east8. Hence, economic de-globalization is the

diminishing of unilateral and multinational interdependence amongst sovereign nations by

nations embracing, enhancing, modifying, and leveraging their individual cultures, capabilities

and virtues. For example, the high standards of quality presented through the ideas and

innovations of the Japanese, such as just-in-time inventory management, and lean manufacturing,

had a significant impact on the advancements of American manufacturing. Japan’s continuous

process improvement prowess was generated and enhanced by the “group collective culture” of

the country.

Economic Globalization of the Past

Mr. Edmund Burke was quoted saying, “In history, a great volume is unrolled for our

instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of

mankind.” The groundwork for the modern global economy can be linked to the transatlantic

slave trade, beginning in 1501 CE and ending in 1867 CE, which involved a conglomerate of

European, Middle Eastern, and North African countries. The major participants in the

transatlantic slave trade were France, Spain, Great Britain, Portugal, Denmark, The Netherlands,

Belgium, Sweden, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, India, Arabia, and Yemen9.

7
Alfandry, P. (2015, June 5). The Myth of Globalization. TED Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia,
CA: TED Conference LLC.
8
Hooker, J. (2012, June 28). Globalization and Business Culture. Tepper School of Business at Carnegie
Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA, United States: Tepper School of Business.
9
Eltis, D., & Richardson, D. (2010). Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. London: Yale University
Press.
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Portugal dominated world trade in the early 1500’s until the 1550’s, until the Netherlands and

Great Britain became the leaders of global commerce as a result of slave trading practices and

the commodities made from them. The forced deportation and enslavement of over 12 million

sub-Saharan African residents laid the foundation for the economic power of the aforementioned

countries including the United States10. This truth is reflected by the fact that by from 1500 CE

to 1820 CE, 80% of the those who had embarked on the journey across international waters of

the Atlantic Ocean to the “New World” were slaves from the sub-Saharan region of the continent

of Africa, known then as Negroland11. The Transatlantic slave system served as the foundation

for many features and elements of the modern global economy, such as the international

investment of capital across international borders resulting from commodities such as sugar,

cotton, tobacco, coffee, rum, molasses, and chocolate, all of which were harvested and produced

via slave labor. The large-scale production of these commodities literally shaped the market and

developed the mentality of consumers further empowering the banking system and global

economic model seen in modern times. The absence of compensation for labor over the course

of several hundred years will build any business of sovereign nation into an economic

powerhouse. For example, Great Britain gained control of 25% of the earth’s habitable and

agricultural landmass occupied by 30% of the earth’s known population through the economic

power, military strength, and naval capabilities gained from the profits of slaves and slave labor

making Britain the world’s first industrialized and urbanized state12. Simply put, human

trafficking and forced human labor and servitude built the global economy.

10
Enclosure 1
11
Enclosure 2
12
DeWitt, J. (2002). Early Globalization and the Economic Development of the United States and Brazil,
pgs. 4-5, Westport: Praeger.
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The Holy Scriptures contained in the Bible bore the ungodly burden of being used as

justification for the human trafficking atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade and the sustained

enslavement of the descendants of the slaves. The most commonly employed Scriptures used to

justify the enslavement of the Negro people of sub-Saharan Africa state, “Servants, obey in all

things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness

of heart, fearing God13:”, and “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to

the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ14;”. This is a gross

misrepresentation of the Scriptures as it does not account for the laws of servitude, known today

as employment, written in Deuteronomy 15:12-18 which mandates that all servants be released

after seven years with equitable compensation. The heinous private interpretation of the Apostle

Paul’s aforementioned epistles also neglects the law written by Moses at the instruction of The

MOST HIGH which states, “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his

hand, he shall surely be put to death15.” The prophet Jeremiah also declared, “Woe unto him that

buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's

service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;16”.

Another erroneous justification for the enslavement of the Negroes was the curse placed

upon Caanan, the son of Ham at the words of their father Noah17. This is countered by Bible

Dictionary doctrine which states that Ham is the progenitor of the dark races of the African

13
Colossians 3:22, The Holy Bible: Quatercentenary Edition, KJV 1611 Text. (2010). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
14
Ephesians 6:5, The Holy Bible: Quatercentenary Edition, KJV 1611 Text. (2010). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
15
Exodus 21:16, The Holy Bible: Quatercentenary Edition, KJV 1611 Text. (2010). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
16
Jeremiah 22:13, The Holy Bible: Quatercentenary Edition, KJV 1611 Text. (2010). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
17
Genesis 9:20-27, The Holy Bible: Quatercentenary Edition, KJV 1611 Text. (2010). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
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peoples, but not the Negroes18. There is also evidence presented by Dr. Samuel George Morton

in collaboration with reputable Egyptologist George R. Gliddon in 1844 through the study of the

crania of Negro and Egyptian skulls which concluded the Negroes were not of Egyptian or

African decent, in contrast with the doctrine of the abolitionist and Christians of that era19.

Historian and Harvard Professor Niall Ferguson expresses the first age of economic

globalization had its preeminence between the years 1880 and 1914 of the common era, stating

its precise dating with the laying of the transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866, ending with the

sinking of the British ocean liner (Lusitania) in 191520. The transatlantic cable was a

technological marvel in the mid-nineteenth century connecting the eastern and western

hemispheres in communications, trade, commerce, and currency exchange. Currency and stock

orders could be transferred across the Atlantic Ocean and national lines within minutes due to the

technology of the transatlantic cable, providing traders with the ability to sell and trade stocks

and bonds with neighboring and distant nations setting the stage for multinational corporations.

The dominant economic power of the time was Great Britain whose pound sterling was the chief

currency of international trade, and was served as the primary financial means of bring the

transatlantic cable to fruition. The British vessels, the Niagara and the Agamemnon, escorted by

the USS Susquehanna and HMS Leopard, carried 2,500 miles of cable weighing 3,575 pounds

per mile wrapped in hemp impregnated with pitch for proper protection and insolation in the

18
Tinney, M. C. (1963). The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, pg. 330, Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House.
19
Fredrickson, G. M. (1817). The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American
Character and Destiny, 1817-1914, pgs. 74-75, New York: Harper & Row Publishers.
20
Ferguson, N. (2005, May 23). What Could Bring Globalization Down? (C. Chruchwell, Interviewer)
United States: Harvard Business School.
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deep cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean21. This is a prime example of technological

advancements enhancing economic globalization.

World War 1 officially began on July 28, 1914 and did not end until November 11, 1918.

An interesting fact of this war is that the leaders of the conflicting nations of Great Britain,

Germany, and Russia were blood-line cousins and grandchildren of Queen Victoria. The sinking

of the British Ocean liner Lusitania on May 7, 1915 was a product of World War 1 at the hands

of the German Navy who conflicted with France and Great Britain. The vessel, which was

carrying war munitions for the British war effort, was struck by a torpedo from a German

Submarine and within twenty minutes, sank into the Celtic Sea taking the lives of 1,198

passengers and crew, inclusive of 128 citizens of the United States of America. The German’s

attacked all merchant ships that entered Britain’s waters causing major disruptions in

international trade, business, and commerce. The war caused stocks, bonds, and trading in

Europe to decline, while it increased in the United States of America.

The aftermath of World Wars 1 and 2 resulted in the United States becoming an

economic and military juggernaut due to the agricultural, industrial, and financial decimation of

Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, China, and the USSR. The conclusion of World War 2

gave birth to the United Nations(UN), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) which was built for the purpose of assisting nations in their social and economic recovery

from the toll of war by stabilizing monetary fluctuations and providing debt relief to financially

distressed nations22. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was a set of

rules, regulations, and guidelines for international trade, commerce, and tariffs, and the World

21
Gordon, J. S. (2002). A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable, pgs. 99-
171, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
22
Folsom, R. H., Gordon, M. W., Spanogle, J. A., Fitzgerald, P. L., & Van Alstine, M. P. (2012).
International Business Transactions, 11th Edition, pg. 4, St. Paul: West Publishing Company.
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Trade Organization (WTO) laid the final groundwork for the modern era of economic

globalization. These events are examples of how political clashes and conflicting legal theories

adversely impact international business and trade.

Economic Globalization of the Present

Present economic globalization carries the stench of the past. The expressed purpose of

the World Trade Organization is to assess and improve the impact of the global trading system

on global poverty and development, in addition to the management and safeguarding of global

environmental protection and sustainment23. However, the poverty amongst the African-

American population of the United States, who are the descendants of the victims of the

transatlantic slave trade, was 24.7% doubling the country’s overall poverty rate, with the

Hispanic population, who are also descendants of the victims of European Conquests and

enslavement, are not far behind at 21.9%, in addition to 60+% of the inhabitants of Sub-Saharan

African countries living in absolute poverty24. For example, while countries such as the

Democratic Republic of the Congo provide the essential mineral, coltan, for the electronics

manufactured and sold by the Apple and Samsung corporations, the inhabitants of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo do not reap equal rewards as the multinational companies that

procure the fruit of Congolese land and labor. Those who served as the foundation of the

modern global economy via slavery still reside at the bottom of the proverbial economic totem

pole.

A case law example of sub-Saharan African victims of economic globalization is Kiobel

v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., which was decided on April 17, 2013. Esther Kiobel represented

a group of natives of the Ogoni region of Nigeria in Sub-Saharan Africa who filed a class action
23
Gallagher, P. (2005). The First Ten Years of the WTO: 1995-2005, pg. 46, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
24
Odekon, M. (2006). Encyclopedia of World Poverty, pg. 858, London: SAGE Publications.
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suit against respondents Royal Dutch Petroleum, Shell Transport and Trading Company and

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria under the Alien Tort Statute. The Royal

Dutch Petroleum Company and Shell Transport and Trading Company, which are holding

companies incorporated in the Netherlands and England respectively, partnered with the

government of Nigeria to engage in oil exploration projects in Ogoniland, which is a region of

250 square miles located in the Niger delta area of Nigeria, possessive of approximately 500,000

inhabitants. The petitioners alleged that Nigerian military forces committed atrocities against the

Ogoni people including destruction and looting pf personal property, rape, murder, assault,

maiming, unlawful arrests, torture, and other acts of atrocity to advance the efforts of the

Nigerian government to end the protesting in lieu of further oil exploration, with the financial

and logistical support of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company25.

Another often forgotten victim of economic globalization are the Native Americans. In

1980, the average median income for Native American families residing in the United States

averaged $13,678, which $6,000 less than the average median income of the general United

States population, in addition to 41% of reservation families’ possessive of a head of household

living beneath the poverty line, and 59% poverty amongst Native American who lived absent a

family26.

Conclusion

International commerce and economic globalization, although potentially subversive to

the political and social order of sovereign nations due to the free-flow of communication of ideas

and ideologies in addition to the transport of people and services, is still sought after because of

25
Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 10-1491 (United States Court of Appeals, 2nd District April 27,
2013).
26
Jarrett, A. A. (2000). The Impact of Macro Social Systems on Ethnic Minorities in the United States, pgs.
85-87, Westport: Praeger Publishers.
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the economic benefits presented as each sovereign nation and multinational corporation volleys

for strategic position and economic superiority. Global trade and commerce increases the quality

of life and prosperity of some while diminishing or ultimately destroying the livelihood of

others, therefore the effectiveness, benefit, and success of economic globalization is in the eye of

the beholder. As economic power seemingly shifts from west to east, those who served as the

foundation appear to remain in their unfortunate and impoverished position. As laws of

international and sea trade evolve from the Rhodian Sea Law during the reign of the Greek

Empire, to Justinian’s Codex of Roman Law, to the common commercial law of medieval

Europe, to the merchant rights written in the Magna Carta, up to the GATT, WTO, and Uniform

Commercial Codes (UCC), productivity, profit, and power will continue to be the driving force

of the world’s economy27.

27
Bederman, D. J. (2008). Globalization and International Law, pgs. 27-29, New York: Palgrave
Macmillan
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Enclosure 1
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Enclosure 2
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References
Alfandry, P. (2015, June 5). The Myth of Globalization. TED Conference. Vancouver, British
Columbia, CA: TED Conference LLC.
Bederman, D. J. (2008). Globalization and International Law. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
DeWitt, J. (2002). Early Globalization and the Economic Development of the United States and
Brazil. Westport: Praeger.
Duncan, S. G. (2010). The Greatest Story Oversold: Understanding Economic Globalization.
Maryknoll: Orbis Books.
Eltis, D., & Richardson, D. (2010). Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. London: Yale
University Press.
Ferguson, N. (2005, May 23). What Could Bring Globalization Down? (C. Chruchwell,
Interviewer) United States: Harvard Business School.
Folsom, R. H., Gordon, M. W., Spanogle, J. A., Fitzgerald, P. L., & Van Alstine, M. P. (2012).
International Business Transactions, 11th Edition. St. Paul: West Publishing Company.
Fredrickson, G. M. (1817). The Black Image in the White Mind: The Debate on Afro-American
Character and Destiny, 1817-1914. New York: Harper & Row Publishers.
Gallagher, P. (2005). The First Ten Years of the WTO: 1995-2005. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Gordon, J. S. (2002). A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable.
New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hood, N., & Young, S. (2000). The Globalization of Multinational Enterprise Activity and
Economic Development. New York: St. Martins Press Inc.
Hooker, J. (2012, June 28). Globalization and Business Culture. Tepper School of Business at
Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA, United States: Tepper School of Business.
Jarrett, A. A. (2000). The Impact of Macro Social Systems on Ethnic Minorities in the United
States. Westport: Praeger Publishers.
Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 10-1491 (United States Court of Appeals, 2nd District
April 27, 2013).
Levitt, T. (1984). The globalization of markets. The McKinsey Quarterly, 2-20.
Odekon, M. (2006). Encycolpedia of World Poverty. London: SAGE Publications.
The Holy Bible: Quatercentenary Edition, KJV 1611 Text. (2010). Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Tinney, M. C. (1963). The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House.