The Good, Bad and Ugly Face of Globalization: Opening the Borders for International Workers

The current concept of globalization, as seen in modern economics, pushes for open economies, free markets or integration of borders. After the end of Cold War, the vision of a new and globalized world was presented by the presence of multinationals and politicians around the world. In the words of Marshall McLuhan (2003), we would eventually live in a: “Global Village.” This papers will try to evaluate how globalization has affected the job market worldwide. Nonetheless, and despite the aggressive inclusion of globalization in many countries, there are still restrictions for the achievement, in words of Jean Monet and Robert Schuman (1957), of the “four freedoms”: the free circulation of capital, people, services and goods. In this paper I will argue what are the good and bad things about a globalized economy, and how it affects the international labor market. First, I will explain how a globalized economy functions in terms of the establishment of free trade agreements among different regions worldwide. Second, I will evaluate how the labor market reacts to a globalized economy. For this, I will analyze social phenomena such as local and international migration. Furthermore, since a global society is not yet possible, countries will continue to have restrictions in their job policies and a significant share of national sovereignty. Finally, I will point out the challenges of this new generation of “global citizens,” in the construction of a globalized society.