On balance, economic globalization benefits worldwide poverty reduction

Definition of Poverty (from the World Bank): Earning less than $1.25 a day.Premise: Global poverty rates have been cut in half over the past couple decades. (1) For this debate, I will prove that economic globalization help caused this.R1:Con asserts that moving from rural areas to urban areas makes the world poverty problem worse. However, this is not one bit true. Urban jobs usually pay more than rural jobs. (4) I will elaborate on rural/urban migration in my arguments.R2:Our debate is that economic globalization benefits worldwide poverty reduction. So, even if the income gap is expanding in some countries, it doesn't mean that poverty rates aren't decreasing. Although, Con does assert that a widening class gap slows progress in reducing poverty. However, no evidence of this was provided. In fact, the exact opposite was shown in China (which Con noted for inequality problems), as they have had among the fastest rate of poverty reduction (3): Con's argument is also flawed as it doesn't even prove globalization is causing this widening income gap or the possibility that the reason for widening income gaps is because the wealthier are working at jobs that were provided by globalization and the poor are still working rural jobs.R3:Poverty has absolutely nothing to do with working conditions or number of hours worked per day, so any arguments Con made regarding that should be discredited. Con also asserts using a few examples that sweatshops keep people in poverty. However, examining the apparel industry's (which is perhaps best known for using sweatshop labour) average hourly wage in countries with sweatshops we see even if they only worked 8 hour work days (standard in the United States) the average daily income exceeds $1.25 in all of them, except Bangladesh (2): Therefore, on average if somebody works in a sweatshop they are not in poverty.C1-Rural/Urban Migration:As already mentioned urban jobs pay better than rural jobs. In fact, nearly three quarters of those below the poverty line work in rural jobs. (5) Fortunately, the share of people living in urban areas has increased and is increasing. (6) After World War II, many Japanese were living in rural areas. Then Japan began exporting materials, which led to people leaving their urban areas to work in cities. This exportation led to rapid economic growth for Japan. (6) However, if Japan didn't have foreign support, there wouldn't have been demand for those products, and Japan would still see a lot of their population working dead end rural jobs. Therefore, globalization helps reduce poverty rates by providing more opportunities for jobs to be transferred from rural areas to urban areas.C2-Sweatshops:Not only are sweatshops typically above the poverty line, people working at sweatshops usually earn more than the rest of the country (2): Since sweatshops usually produce goods for export (most people in countries battling poverty cannot afford certain goods), globalization is needed for these sweatshops to exist. Therefore, globalization assists in decreasing global poverty rates. Also, it has been found that at sweatshops run multinational firms pay more than domestic firms. (2) Therefore, foreign owned sweatshops (which definitely wouldn't exist without globalization) help decrease poverty as well, as they provide better opportunities than locally owned sweatshops.C3-Foreign Investment:Globalization allows foreign companies to directly invest into poorer countries. This has helped bring in new technology, employment creation, human capital development, contribution to international trade, integration, enhancing domestic investment, and increasing tax revenue. (7) All of these factors have helped reduce poverty. It indirectly helps reduce poverty through economic growth, leading to better living standards (due to higher GDP), improvement in technology, productivity, and economic environment. (7) It also helps directly by allowing more people to be employed. (7) This is explained by the Modernization Theory. To see economic growth according to the Modernization Theory, there needs to be an increase in technology, trade, and industrial manufacturing. (8) China has perhaps benefited the most. As soon as China opened up to foreign investment it saw rapid economic growth. (9) 1-http://www.economist.com...2-http://www.independent.org...3-http://www.chinadaily.com.cn...4-http://www.carleton.ca...5-http://siteresources.worldbank.org... 6-http://catt.univ-pau.fr...7-http://www.grips.ac.jp... 8-http://www.academia.edu... 9-http://www.worldbank.org...