Neoliberalism and Economic Inequality in Different Countries

Over the past few decades, the world economy has expanded rapidly under the influence of neoliberalism. However, neoliberalism is controversial, some people hold a positive attitude towards it, while others hold a negative attitude. Not all developed and developing countries will benefit from the new liberal process. Over time, more and more problems have surfaced as a result of the free market.

In fact, today, with the spread of neoliberalism, economic and social inequality still exists in society, which has resulted in greater di and economic inequality sparities between different social classes and countries.

In addition, the development of labor and environment is often accompanied by the global growth of transnational corporations. This neoliberalism is unfair to anyone on this planet, and it is a major cause of economic and social inequality between states and social classes. 

The implementation of the neoliberal economic policies has provided more employment opportunities for many people and countries, thus this has lead to the remarkable economic development of the country. The implementation of the neoliberal economic policies has provided more employment opportunities for many people and countries, thus leading to the remarkable economic development of the country. Hong Kong is a prime example of a free market. There are not only no tariffs in Hong Kong, but also the government has little market control. The implementation of the neoliberal economic policies has provided more employment opportunities for many people and countries, thus leading to the remarkable economic development of the country. 

Hong Kong is a prime example of a free market. Not only are there no tariffs in Hong Kong, but the government has little market control. Although Hong Kong’s land area is not that large and its natural resources are limited, under the impact of neoliberalism, Hong Kong is one of the leaders in the economic development of Asia, and people’s living standards rank top in the world. In fact, there is no completely free market in this world, because governments always intervene in it. Workers are not completely free to choose, because some rules and restrictions still limit their choices. Hong Kong’s success is hard to replicate. 

There is economic inequality between different countries. For some developing countries, the choice to join the new free market can be a double-edged sword. As these countries develop their economies on the basis of neoliberal policies, they will also face other problems. Some countries have to give up national sovereignty in exchange for WTO membership or accepting IMF loans (Masters, 2). The two international financials were originally designed to ensure equality between nations. However, the fact is that these organizations, in order to gain more benefits from developed countries, forcibly open the market of developing countries according to the rules. Rich countries tend to have more control over the organization because of their deep pockets and power. 

The United States, Russia, Britain, France, and other “big countries” can influence the negotiations of the WTO agenda (Sergie, 2-3). While these developed countries want more from developing countries, they don’t really care about the rules of organizations that are designed to create fair and free markets. Many developing countries have no choice but to participate in this imbalance to raise their economic levels. Unfortunately, this economic inequality often leads to worse.

Mexico, for example, suspended tariff protection for farm products after opening its markets to the United States for some financial assistance from the world bank. This led to a flood of us subsidized corn into the Mexican corn market, which broke the balance of the Mexican domestic corn market (Bello, 1). Ironically, these corn farmers can’t afford to buy their own corn. Not only have these developing countries not actually benefited from new liberalism, but they have also even suffered. 

Neoliberalism has brought many jobs to people, especially women, all over the world. More and more people choose to leave their hometown to work. Sometimes they choose to work abroad, often from poor to rich countries. On the one hand, their country may be too backward to have enough jobs for so many people; On the other hand, if they work in some developed countries, they can get a higher salary. As labor costs rise in developed countries, some big companies want to build factories in developing countries and hire cheap labor locally. When the big companies in developed countries don’t need to focus on simple assembly and disassembly, they can focus more on what they are really good at, especially information technology and creativity.

For example, after Nike moved its production base out of the United States, it began to pay more attention to the sales concept, so as to make products more attractive to customers and obtain higher sales. In the past, most women were not allowed to work. Because of some feudal ideas, their work was mainly housework. 

In Japan, working women also experience gender wage disparities due to corporate and social prejudice against women. However, the emergence of neoliberalism had a positive impact on the working conditions of women. Free trade allows foreign companies to be satisfied with local companies, which forces local companies to put aside their prejudice against female employees and hire more female employees in order to compete with foreign companies (Bhagwati, 75).

The social value of women increased through the flow of neoliberalism. While many, like women, have gained more jobs under trade liberalization, inequality between the working class and the capitalist class remains. Nowadays, in order to maximize profits, many employers exploit workers and force them to use different strategies, such as setting production goals to achieve efficient production (Raworth, 39). These workers have a hard time defending their rights because there are real conflicts between officials and businessmen, and markets are dominated by capitalists. 

The influence of neoliberalism is of great significance to the development of multinational corporations. Many companies used to grow only in their home countries and were not well known in the industry. But as neoliberalism spread, they became famous and became multinational corporations. For example, Nike has become one of the multinational companies through large-scale global market expansion. Its revenue has grown from $2 million to $14 billion in a few decades (Love, 92).

However, behind the development of these multinational companies, labor exploitation is serious. It is a violation of human rights to force child labor in Nike’s African factories and female workers in China to work overtime to produce more goods (Love, 96). Due to poor working conditions, these women and child laborers are at high risk for environmental health problems such as cancer (Hagenloh). 

In addition, if the working environment of workers is dangerous to some extent, their lives may be in great danger. A typical case is the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh. More than one thousand people died in the collapse of the building (class discussion). If the boss cared more about the workers who created his wealth and the government cared more about the workers’ safety, the whole disaster could have been avoided. In the wake of these tragedies witnessed by people around the world, the global strategy of multinational companies has become more controversial. As multinationals expand, so does an illegal economic activity around the world. Market liberalization has opened markets around the world, linked websites, and contributed to the growth of illicit economic transactions worldwide. Many works for transnational drug trafficking organizations (Ramshorst). Although neoliberals claim that people have equal opportunities, the reality is very different. Opportunities are limited. 

As multinationals expand, so does an illegal economic activity around the world. Market liberalization has opened markets around the world, linked websites, and contributed to the growth of illicit economic transactions worldwide. Many works for transnational drug trafficking organizations (Ramshorst). Although neoliberals claim that people have equal opportunities, the reality is totally different. Opportunities are limited. In Peru, many people choose to become “backpackers” to transport drugs. While the job can be dangerous, one success can be rewarding a lot (drug?1). Because of poverty and inequality between countries, earning illegal money becomes the only option for these people to survive. Their low levels of education and economic and social status mean they cannot find jobs with decent incomes. 

The most important thing for them is to be able to afford their life. The result of the drug trade has always been violence and corruption. Many of the deaths are drug-related. The illicit economic growth of the drug trade has had a negative impact on society as a whole. Now, it is considered a political issue related to public safety. Although countries cooperated with each other to curb the expansion of the drug trade, the effect was not obvious because the price of illicit drugs remained stable (Ramshorst). The prosperity of illegal businesses around the world is intertwined with neoliberalism. Under these neoliberal policies, these companies prospered even grow faster. 

If developing countries want to become a member of the global market like developed countries, they must have complete and sound political and business systems. Governments in most developing countries fail to appreciate the importance of a complete system. In order to develop rapidly, they just want to learn from the western democratic system and free economic system. However, it does not necessarily apply to different environments and cultures. Neoliberalism does not always lead to better things. It has indeed raised the overall level of the world economy and the average standard of living of its people. 

However, the distribution of power is definitely unbalanced, so it will lead to the inequality between social classes and the country. The crisis accompanying neoliberalism cannot be ignored and solutions need to be found as soon as possible. The ideology of the free market is simple, but when it is realized in reality, it may be different due to the complexity of the world.

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