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?