possible to coordinate economic transactions around the world in ways
that were difficult and costly 50 years ago and quite impossible 100 years
ago.
Through the ongoing process of globalization, national economies are ever more linked to the
global economy.Globalization comes with challenges, however. As Canadian firms
relocate production facilities to countries where costs are lower, domestic
workers are laid off and must search for new jobs, perhaps needing
retraining in the process. The location of production facilities in countries
with lower environmental or human-rights records raises difficult
questions about the standards that should be followed by Canadian-
owned firms in foreign lands. And firms often use the threat of relocation
in an attempt to extract financial assistance from governments, placing
those governments in difficult positions. These concerns have led in
recent years to “anti-globalization protests” that have raised awareness of
some of the costs associated with the process of globalization. The same
concerns have also led to the rise of protectionist policies in some
countries, as we mentioned in the introduction to this chapter. We have
more to say about these issues in Chapters 33 and 34.