To what extend does globalization affect sustainability?

Question

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Answer 1

If you take an economic point of view, globalization facilitates sustainability in two ways.

1)  Resources are allocated to more efficient activities. An example would be the steel industry, where inefficient steel mills in the US were trying to maintain their market share against more efficient German and Japanese processors by high tariffs and quotas. Thanks to globalized trade they must either meet the standards of the foreign producers or quit. A better choice for the world either way. David Ricardo suggests comparative advantages make some places more efficient than others at creating value, so they should focus on these activities and let others take care of what else is left.

2) Innovation is found and deployed to where it is needed.  This innovation is also resource preserving. Technology like basic refrigeration has saved an uncountable quantity of food and allowed more efficient distribution which again provides the ability for locations to focus on agricultural activity that they are more suited to perform than other locations. Paul Romer suggests that our way out of resource shocks like we are having now are through open exchange and exploitation of innovative ideas.