Pro: People Are Closer Together (click to expand)

Do to the cheap cost of communication provided by the Internet, people can communicate with their friends, loved ones, and business associates in ways not affordable or even possible a generation ago. 

Thirty years ago, a U.S. high school student studied abroad in Japan. Overseas telephone calls were impossible due to costs. One minute from Japan to the US cost literally US $90, whereas from the US to Japan was relatively cheaper --  US $5 per minute. Compared to today’s availability of Skype and other Internet based services, these costs are unimaginable.

Pro: Globalization Makes Good Affordable (click to expand)

Because efficiencies of production and distribution were created, a greater variety of goods are now possible for world consumers -- not to mention, the goods are usually at  lower cost! The lower and middle classes in both poorer and richer countries can now afford goods and services previously unattainable. This consumption promotes innovations. For anyone who has used a mobile telephone, this is readily apparent.

Con: Wealthy Nations Shift Jobs Overseas (click to expand)

Wealthy nations benefit from the labor of the poorer nations.

Multinational corporations shift their manufacturers operations overseas. In a process known as “outsourcing,” US corporations have sent many of their factories to cheaper production locations like Mexico and China. In some instances, workers in developing nations that now do the manufacturing previously done in first world countries are forced to work in inhuman conditions.

This shifting of jobs hurt domestic workers, as blue collar jobs are becoming scarcer. The argument by many economists is that displaced workers (read unemployed) will simply retrain for other jobs. Usually this is not a realistic notion, and so loss of manufacturing jobs increases long term unemployment levels. This in turn strains the social safety net of these wealthier nations.

This process of “outsourcing” is not limited to just manufacturing jobs. Positions that require technical skills, as varied as computer programming to legal document proofing, are often sent abroad. The negative impact on these domestic workers is the same as their laborer counterparts [Source].

Con: Wealthy Nations Do Not Pay the Full Costs (click to expand)

Because production is now done in countries with little to no environmental oversight, pollution is a major problem. In areas of massive industrialization, basic needs like clean air and water are no longer met. This in turn causes health problems for the developing nation’s citizens. The cost of this damage to individuals and the country’s long term economy is not paid by the wealthier nations.

Some research, such as this graph developed at Yale University, counter this argument about the environment, stating that globalization does not have a major impact on the world environment. Critics counter by stating that these studies are geared towards analyzing the environmental impact of developed nations.

However, a first-hand perspective may encourage you not to breath the air in Beijing or Shanghai on a daily basis. Even the US Embassy in Beijing recognizes the danger of air pollution on its personnel, by posting a daily gauge and warning of air contaminants of the US embassy website. In times of extreme air pollutant, embassy personnel are prevented from travelling.