“Globalisation” is becoming a buzzword mentioned by increasing number of people. With the improvement of transportation and the emergence of internet, the distance of individuals is becoming closer; moreover, international trade seems to be freer and more frequent. Aninat (2001) defines globalisation as “the increasing interaction among and integration of diverse human societies in all important dimensions of their activities” including economic, environmental and cultural. Considering the different dimensions, economic impacts appear to be the most important. Therefore, the focus here will be on the economic aspect of development. Pro-globalisation campaigners believe that contemporary prosperities are all produced by globalisation; nevertheless, every coin has two sides, globalisation creates both advantages and disadvantages to economic development. However, as a critique of globalisation, this essay will be divided into three parts to prove that globalisation can generate obstacles to economic development. Firstly, China and Singapore are used as examples to verify that globalisation may not be the main cause to national economic development. Secondly, globalisation could expand the gap between the rich and the poor. Finally, three disadvantages have emerged with the pace of globalisation.
It is argued by pro-globalisation campaigners that the speed of development is increased by trade liberalization; moreover, globalisation contributes to the reduction of poverty rate (Bardhan, 2007, p3849). Furthermore, it is claimed that globalisation leads to tourism improvement which motivates the national economic development (Sugiyarto et al, 2003). Since the tidal wave of globalisation has swept across the whole world, China and Singapore might be two typical examples of economic success. However, it is seemed that globalisation is not the main cause to economic prosperities. It is stated that it was the significant