Positive and Negative Consequences of a Growing Economy

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Any major change will always be followed by both positive and negative consequences. And that is true for Vietnam and the economic changes that took place once they started to globalize. Around the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, Vietnam began to change their foreign policy. As Vietnam opened their borders and began to trade globally, the country's economy changed as well. 

Becoming a part of the global economy has had many positive effects on Vietnam, such as improved living conditions, higher wages and an increase in Foreign Direct Investment. Yet it also ties the country to the control and stability of other countries. These positive and negative consequences show how a country can form a give and take relationship with how they globalize. Each individual country will have to weight the pros and the cons and ultimately decide if globalization works for them. And at this point, most countries have decided that the pros outweigh the cons.

This brings back up an idea of Guarded Globalization that I referred to in an earlier post. Should countries, especially developing economies be more careful about who they choose to trade with internationally? Would that even make a difference? While I think taking the time to evaluate the situation before creating a symbiotic relationship with another country is important, I think that the economic benefits of globalization greatly outweigh the chance of instability. 

Yes, I understand that when a country basically ties their economy onto the economy of another country their can be a loss of control, and there can be periods of instability when the larger country's economy fails. But I think that the opportunity to better improve a countries economic system and the living conditions of its people [not to mention some of the other benefits] are worth this risk. Because in the end, what would our world look like if we hadn't globalized? Would we be sitting in this classroom even discussing it?

How is Globalization Affecting Culture?

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Globalization has many positive and negative impacts on any country, but especially developing economies. Many are not seeing changes to just their economic system either as one would expect. Globalization is also affecting the countries culture. For example, in Vietnam globalization has modernized and created a more diverse cultural life by infusing different country's culture into Vietnam. Some of these changes even include how individuals view their values. Some are taking on a more "modern" value set while others are fighting against this change and taking on a more traditional value set. Those who are embracing the modern influences are mainly those of the younger generation who are seeking independence, wealthy and success.

You might expect that this differing opinion on cultural values might cause some chaos. Instead, it is causing Vietnamese people to get involved and excited about their country in a way they never have before. People are going out and exploring new ideas and interests that they never thought existed - which in turn is creating a more dynamic Vietnam.

This impact can be seen in countries across the globe and I personally found it particularly interesting. At first, I thought that globalization would just infuse new culture into a country, and those who embraced it would modernize and those who didn't would do everything they could to fight against it. I never considered the fact that this modernization might make those who wanted the traditional values to still be apart of the country's culture step back and really appreciate those traditional values. It is an interesting thought that shows just how many different ways globalization can affect a country.