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“Cross–border trade from the earliest times has required some form of accepted currency.” (190)

“…in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the values of makor currencies were fixed to the price of gold, providing a basis for a system of fixed exchange rates: the classical Gold Standard.” (195)

The gold standard was originally introduced in order to provide some sort of global economic currency. Since most countries use different cuurency (the United States uses the dollar; Mexico uses the peso, Brazil uses the real…) a unifying one was needed. Gold was seen as a resource available to all the countries. however, since its inception, the Godl Standard was somewhat of a joke. First, it was not internationally available, nor was there equal distribution of it. Gold was only located in certain locations, and the major gold deposits were few and far between. Therefore, under the Gold Standard, the countires with more numerous, larger deposits had more value. Second, the system was based on a Western concept. The system works for peoepl who know it and understand it, but for those who are not educated as to how the system works, it means nothing. Third, it was controlled by the stronger nations. Because the system was developed by Western nations, they naturally had an advantage over other nations, but also stronger nations had an advantage. As gold became more and more important and valuable, stronger countries would take gold from weaker ones. Finally, international currency is constantly changing and based on a situation by situation evaluation. For instance, the United States entered the Gulf Wars with the extra motive of gaining oil., not gold. I worked at a school in Brazil where students could pay in rice or meat, not gold or even the national currency. How often has the United States gained extra goods and services from other countires in exchange for protection or diplomacy.


“…this does not presume that all countries trade with all countries, rather it assumes the existence of a trading system in which trade activity between any two countries may affect trade relations between the rest.” (150)

The world is so tightly connected that what happens between neighbors affects “the whole naeighborhood.” In Desert Storm, Saddam Hussein probably thought he could roll into Kuwait and no one would notice, but the whole world noticed. Tradeing systems have becoem a way for nations to make political statements. For instance, the United States trade embargo of Cuba and strained traded relations with China. Or, how many countries have made statement disagreeing with the U.S. by increasing trade with countries like these?

“Hyperglobalists or sceptical accounts either simply assume that trade leads to global convergeance in income levels or that it simply perpetuates or increases international inequality.” (152)

Some people bring up the quesiton of whether capitalism or communism is more biblical or ethical. (for example, the young man who asked it last Thursday.) Though capitalism has the great weakness of the powerful exploiting the weak, it encourages competition, creativity, and the potential to succeed and grow. Ideally, Socialism has the main strength of equally distributed wealth, but creativity and potential for success has diminished in socialist countries. Generally, socialist countries have also suffered from the most powerful exploiting the rest of the population. If you look at Cuba, there is a wealthy, powerful class, but there is also a massive, impoverished class. Perhaps if a socialist system was founded in the ethics and ideas of Jesus Christ than it would work. However, the system is generally based on fallen ethics of humans and run by them as well.


“…in this early modern period, the kept centers of financial activity were located generally in areas where commerce, and hence demand for financial services, were concentrated. (191)

“In Eurasia, the domestication of animals and improving technologies for harnessing their power, road-building, imperial security, and improvements in shipping, cartography, and navigation techniques made intercontinental and interregional trade more feasible. (152)

“Foreign investment and the acquisition of technology ensure countries beyond England industrialized and so competed in international markets.” (155)

Technology has been an important contributor to the globalization of marketting and financing. Transportation itself has advanced from walking to using domesticted animals to steam to electricty to nuclear to flight etc. This along with the export of this technology helped international trade develop and disperse across the world. However how much did this really balance the economic forces? Technology remained either monopolized by specific countries or dominated by them. Though all the countires have automobiles and airplanes now, there are more in Los Angles alone than there are in most countries.

All of these factors bear the same foundation and motivating factor that guides and propels mass media: the love of money/greed. Technology is just a vehicle by which people make more money. Techonology propelled globalization in every respect, especially the financial one. It has made the world a smaller place. All around us, the world fincancial powers are advertising themesleves and their products: they buy commercial air time, they make movies, the buy sports stadiums, the advertise on billboards etc. You can go anywhere in the world and find Coca Cola, McDonalds, Volkswagon etc. The global information system exists to make money. In class, we talked about how global lnews sources have compromised objectivivty for the sake of ratings and popularity, and the higher the ratings are, the more money they make. As wemove into the future, we need to assess the true value of media and technology and seek to redeem it for Christian values.