Thomas Shogren, Chapter 12, Question #6

There were two passages in this chapter that struck me as very significant. The first passage was, "productivity is what makes us rich. Specialization is what makes us productive. Trade allows us to specialize" (Wheelan 275). This quote explains itself because as people become more productive they can become wealthier by producing more. People can become more productive because they specialize in what they are the best at. Trade allows people to specialize because without trade everyone would have to produce everything they need in order to survive, which would make specialization impossible. The second passage was, "in the long run, trade facilitates growth and a growing economy can absorb displaced workers" (Wheelan 275). Many people don't like globalization because it costs others jobs. However in the long run globalization creates more jobs and causes people to become more educated and productive so that they can stay employed. Globalization also lowers costs of goods and services because the cost of production will decrease. The benefits of globalization in the long run outweigh the costs of globalization in my opinion.