Impact Of Globalization On Public

Introduction

Globalization is not a new phenomenon and usually goes back to the past when individuals such as merchants travelled to different countries to sell and buy goods as well learn from each other (Steger, 2017). Today globalization is fastened by the availability of fast transport systems, mobile services, and internet banking. For over years, scholars have been involved in motion about a new social occurrence-public policy. Globalization, for instance, can be defined as the phenomenon of increased integration of the global economy as evident by the international trade growth and mobility factors. By reviewing history, globalization has deeply impacted both national and international way of leadership and governance. Furthermore, globalization seems to be a process that creates a global market for products and this creates a rise of standardized norms as well as social behaviour which facilitate centralization of international policies via supranational entities such as The United Nations among others. Looking at history, it is evident that local markets have been rapidly integrated into a worldwide market which is then followed by a spread of ideologies (Thrift & Amin, 2017). Globalization affects national and, international policy thus we can never omit its role in the area of policymaking. This paper aims to define some of the impact of globalization on public policy in the United Kingdom since 2010.

Due to increased globalization, the United Kingdom labour market has greatly changed. In the past few years, significant global trades have given rise to a low wage labour force in the UK economies especially that coming from Asia (Sassen, 2016). Furthermore, there has been increased university enrolment in the United Kingdom in the current years which further increase the United Kingdom educated workers supply and this means, there is an ability for an employer to bargain on wages and knowledge (Hanley, 2011). Most of United Kingdom workforce is managed at a global level. This has brought debate whose implication was witnessed during the United Kingdom debate on the migration legislation for skilled workers from non-European regions. In this debate, exceptions were created to allow international organization to bring their own staff from other countries to the United Kingdom (Geddes & Scholten, 2016). Moreover, the exchange rates in the United Kingdom, such as the use of the US dollar and Euro among other currencies, have greatly affected the policy-making in the UK as well as the level of export of products from the United Kingdom. Additionally, it has impacted immigration to the country due to the attractive UK wages.

Secondly, globalization has impacted the cost of living in the United Kingdom population. Over the last years, research has been conducted on the effect of globalization on the cost of living for individuals with low incomes. For example, it has been found that globalization usually affects the capacity of food production which is aimed at meeting the increasing population. There is also increased pressure on the use of land for food production and the rapid demand for biofuels. Hirsch (2011), indicate that food prices will continue to be volatile and literally remain high compared to the recent past. Long term pressure resulting from globalization is the main factor that is causing food prices to increase rapidly in the United Kingdom. Another area in the cost of living that has witnessed increased cost is the energy and clothing sector. Hossain et al., (2011), has called for an action for the government to support struggling individuals to cope with the impact of the recent rise in the cost of living. In the report, Hossain et al., (2011), also found out that low-income people in the United Kingdom usually purchase cheaper and sometimes poor quality food staffs, shop at cheap supermarkets rather than the local shops and usually switch to cheaper foods such as pasta to cope with the increased level of living cost. To help its citizens, the government should set policies to help these individuals afford certain things that are rapidly increasing in prices such as home insulation devices and taking to account measures that impact the poorest group income such as tax credits, minimum wages, and public sector pay.

Thirdly, is the change in the role of the state. The United Kingdom since 2010 is undergoing a transformation of its role. States have been at the Centre stage of societal governance. In the past, many countries were concerned with the welfare of a state. On the onset of globalization, many changes have been witnessed in the United Kingdom and a market-based approach in the public administration approach is being adopted which has resulted to emergence of competition state which motivate public choice initiative, privatization, deregulation regardless of the local, administrative and political cultures. Since 2010, the government of the UK is putting in place some attractive policies to attract foreign investors such as the improvement of infrastructure and reduction of corporate tax to 21% which is one of the lowest taxations in the European Union (Bilicka & Devereux, 2012). This clearly indicates the change in the role of the state with the recent rapid globalization.

Globalization has greatly affected public health policymaking in the United Kingdom. With increased interaction of people from different parts of the world, there are increased pathogen flows. Regardless of whether the pathogen is drug-resistant tuberculosis or even pandemic influenza, people’s movement means the transport of pathogens. Global trade is considered a vector of diseases especially pest. In the United Kingdom, communicable diseases remain a challenge regardless of believe that they could be conquered even in developing countries by a combination of vaccines, antimicrobials and good sanitation. Regardless of this belief, there is a new disease infection such as HIV/Aids. In the past five years, the government of the United States has tightened the health requirements for foreigners entering the United to prevent transmission of diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis (Zimmerman et al., 2011). During visa application, it is mandatory for an individual to possess health insurance which means one can be treated early in case of onset of disease.

Moreover, globalization has created changes in the media and communication technology in the United Kingdom. News from all over the world goes around the globe in less than twenty-four hours and currently, news are available on social media through satellites (Giddens, 2018). The United Kingdom since 2010 has put regulation measures in place to support the production of global news as part of the public service broadcasting settlement. New communication technology implicates that people are increasingly being directed to news via social networking sites. The new technology and media development have created the customization of the content available to consumers. This has created an increase in people's global affairs as people seek to know more about the outside world (Beckett, 2010). This urge for news and the advancement of technology has forced the government to come up with policies and codes to protect its citizens from harmful news and broadcasts. There are a variety of bodies that regulate what the media broadcast and the news available in the social media. For example, in the recent, there has been a proposal to ban children under the age of 13 years from accessing social media in the UK and this implicates the impact of globalization on public policy.

Globalization is greatly affecting the policy formulation in the education sector in the United Kingdom. Education is usually ranked among the main agendas in the United Kingdom and usually plays a remarkable role in the nurturing of children future. To achieve the objectives of education, national states develop their education policy based on what they consider crucial in their country. However, in recent days, education policy formulation is beyond the national government and has become internationalized due to the dominance of the global economy over state politics. Education is perceived as an international service which plays an important mission in the global economy with investment in individual, knowledge, and skills. This indicates that, currently, educational policy is becoming a global context. For instance, last year, the government of the UK reviewed some of the policies governing international student’s migration (Hubble & Bolton, 2018).

Globalization has increased immigration into the UK. Globalization means more people moving around the world for various reasons. Sometimes this movement is voluntary, but in some instances, it is involuntary such as the case of refugees and asylum seekers. Increased immigration in the United Kingdom has created a multicultural society for many years. The UK government since 2010 has been setting regulation and policies to reduce net migration in the country. The eligibility criteria for acceptance of non-European members in the country is now more selective compared to EU member state. Additionally, policies restricting immigration routes were closed to only allow skilled migrants into the country. Furthermore, due to the multiracial effect brought about by globalization, the United Kingdom has come up with policies such as the Equality Act 2010 which make racial discrimination unlawful and this dictates the effect of globalization on UK policies.

Nevertheless, globalization has created economic globalization which is making a trade, production, and consumption international. Most of the goods consumed in the United Kingdom are produced abroad usually through transnational corporations and companies (Fujita & Thisse, 2013). This has steadily declined the manufacturing activities in the United Kingdom as well as slowing industrialization in the country since these activities have been moved to countries such as China among others. Increased globalization in the United Kingdom comes with precaution such as environmental degradation, tax avoidance where firm shift its production activities to low tax states and this indicate that the country loses on the tax revenue thus the unequal distribution of benefits. With increased globalization, trade activities simultaneously increase and this call for the government to come up with more policies such as the psychoactive substance act 2016 which regulate substance consumption in the country (Reuter & Pardo., 2017). On tax evasion endeavours, some acts have come into place to guide on payment of tax such as the United Kingdom criminal finance act 2017 (Dicey, 2017). These recent legislations clearly indicate the implication of globalization in the United Kingdom.

Lastly, the effect of internationalization on market interest rates is an area where economic theories and reality does not apply. The increase in the effective labour supply in the United Kingdom is expected to raise returns on investments while all other things being equal and guided by increased demand for capital to employ extra labour (Keynes, 2018). This, in turn, is expected to generate extra interest rates. However, long term interest rates in the United Kingdom have witnessed a fall due to the exchange rate policies of some upcoming markets as well as the balance of the saving and investment in the markets economies in the United Kingdom.

Conclusion

The process of globalization is evidently irreversible but there is a need to work towards fighting the negative impact that it can possibly bring to a country. Globalization has created advancement in technology, exports growth, foreign direct investments, and multicultural populations all over the world. Recently, there has been an attempt to create a uniform approach in promoting services delivery mechanisms. This difference in culture and environment is a challenge and most likely to create a varied result, especially in developed and developing countries. Globalization has created insecurity and instability among other virtues thus every country needs to be equipped with the necessary policies to control all these. The government of UK, for instance, has created several policies to regulate globalization which clearly indicate internationalization impact on public policy.

Recommendation

Globalization is an idea that cannot be stopped and rather, can only be copped with. There are some important steps that policymakers should be aware in order to fill the gap created by globalization. First, to curb the effect of globalization, policymakers should act fast in an early warning of negative impact on globalization. Secondly, policymakers should first evaluate the consequences of a policy before implementing them. With these recommendations among others, the impact of globalization will have minimal impact in the United Kingdom.

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