.

Telecommunications
Telecommunications (including telephone landlines, mobile phone
service, fax machines and the Internet) have been another guiding
force behind globalization. For those with access to them, these
communications resources have been a valuable commodity.

However, developing economies have traditionally been

underserved in this respect. The average industrial country has 251
fax machines per 10,000 residents, while the average developing
country has only five per 10,000. Similarly, a person in an
industrialized country spends an average of 43 minutes on
international telephone calls per year, while the average
developing world person spends only 3 minutes on average.

However, the expansion of mobile telephone service around the

world has, to some degree, increased access in areas where
bringing in ground lines has been difficult. The share of the mobile
market held by developing countries nearly quadrupled between
1990 and 1998. In Cambodia, for example, fully 72% of the total
telephones are mobile phones.

The growth in Internet traffic has been dramatic, but it has been
limited primarily to those in developed economies. This trend is
also true of the number of phone lines per capita in countries
around the world. Hence, the economic and educational benefits
that these technologies provide are effectively being kept out of the
hands of the vast majority of those in developing and transition
economies.

Furthermore, there is often a large gap in teledensity (phone lines

per 100 inhabitants) within countries. In Thailand, for example, the
teledensity in urban areas was 27 in 1995, while it was only 2.6 in
rural areas. Meanwhile 81 percent of the country's population lives
in rural areas.

Culture
The advance of communications technology and the globalization
of economies have remarkably influenced all cultures. Cultural
influence among developed, technology-savvy countries has been
reciprocal, with trade in arts and literature, fashion, movies and
television and news information moving across borders freely.

However, those in the developing world have experienced a largely

lopsided exposure to Western culture. Western corporations and
organizations are disproportionately represented in
telecommunications content, meaning that exposure to the inherent
culture in Western movies, for example, constantly influences the
worldview of those it reaches. While the worldwide movie market
is saturated with Hollywood productions, the reverse is not true.
On average, 79 percent of films are imported worldwide. In the
United States, however, only 22 percent of films are imported. A
similar trend exists with worldwide television programming.

And the U.S. generates nearly one-fifth of the entire world's music
publishing, again a lopsided exchange of cultural goods which may
contribute to the erosion of traditional culture in favor of Western
trends.

These trends have been a particular influence to young people in

developing and transition economies. Traditional cultures such as
that found in the Arab world have seen a gap develop between
older generations and those that have been exposed to highly
appealing (if sometimes misleading) Western influences. Such
gaps run the danger of eroding long-standing traditions in favor of
modern alternatives.

Health
Globalization has brought with it serious medical consequences.
The increase in trade and travel across international borders has
exposed many populations to diseases that were unknown in their
regions until recently, a recent study by the Institutes of Medicine
found.

One of the most important factors in the increased emergence of

infectious diseases, especially in the United States, is the excessive
and indiscriminate use of antimicrobial drugs in both developing
and industrial countries, a practice that has promoted the
emergence of drug-resistant organisms. It represents one of the
main dangers that globalization has brought: drug resistant strains
rapidly spreading across the globe, the result of the misuse and
overuse of the few remaining drugs available. Drug-resistant
tuberculosis, for example, has become increasingly common
worldwide over the last 25 years despite the fact that its incidence
had been reduced significantly in the years leading up to that point,
the study showed.

Another trend in global public health is the increasing number of

developed world health concerns that are being found in the
developing world. In 1990, the most important global health risks
were lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases and conditions
arising during perinatal periods. By 2020, major global health
threats will match those in the United States and other industrial
countries Ð heart disease, major depression, traffic accidents and
cerebrovascular disease.
 Other public health concerns include food-borne diseases and
diseases transported in consumer goods; the potential for diseases
to be introduced through terrorism and diseases caused by
environmental toxic wastes.

Some examples from the last ten years include:

 The emergence of AIDS, which originated in Africa, as the number

one killer of young men aged 15-45 in the United States. Today AIDS is
a leading killer in many industrialized countries. However, powerful
anti-AIDS drugs are keeping many in these countries alive while
millions go untreated and die in impoverished countries across Africa
and Asia;
 New threats such as cyclospora, a protozoan that came to the
United States from raspberries from Guatemala, sickening many people;
 Mosquitoes capable of carrying dengue fever, viral encephalitis
and yellow fever, which were introduced to the United States through
tires imported from Asia.
 Pesticides banned in the United States that have been found on
imported food; high levels of lead have been found in crayons imported
to the United States from China, cosmetics from India and canned food
from Latin America.

WORK PLACE
Workplace habits have also changed dramatically in recent years. In a
study published earlier this year, the International Labor Organization
(ILO) found that the total number of migrants around the world now
surpasses 120 million Ð up from 75 million in 1965 Ð and continues to
grow.

Flows of goods and capital between rich and poor countries will not be
large enough to offset the needs for employment in poorer countries, the
ILO reported. Instead the social disruption caused by economic
restructuring is likely to shake more people loose from their
communities and encourage them to look abroad for work.

However, the falling prices for transportation and the increased speed of
communication have changed the character of international migration,
making it a much less permanent move. By 1990, air transport costs per
mile had dropped to 20% of their 1930 level. Between 1930 and 1996,
the real cost of a three-minute telephone conversation between London
and New York fell from $300 to $1.

These changes have made departures to unknown lands less daunting

and traumatic. Migration flows, as a result, have become more complex
and diverse.

One major shift is that many more countries have become suppliers,
receivers or both of these international labor migrants. An ILO analysis
of current migration patterns in 152 countries showed that between 1970
and 1990, the numbers of countries classified as major receivers of labor
immigrants rose from 39 to 67. Over the same 20 years, the number of
countries designated as major international labor suppliers rose from 29
to 55.

As a sign of the increasing complexity of migration patterns, the number

of countries that functioned as both major senders and receivers of
migrants rose over the same period from four to 15.
QUESTION 2 : FOREIGN TRANSACTION AND QUOTATIONS
Direct Quotation
 Meaning: Under this method, the quote is expressed in terms of domestic currency. This means
that the rate expresses how one unit of domestic currency relates to the foreign currency.
Therefore, if unit of the domestic currency were to be exchanged, how many units of the foreign
currency would it beget? This method is also alternatively referred to as the price quotation
method.

Therefore, if the value of the domestic currency increases, a smaller amount of it would have to
be exchanged. Conversely a decline in value would create a situation where a large amount of
the domestic currency would have to be exchanged. Hence, it can be said that the quotation rate
has an inverse relationship with the value of the domestic currency.

The value of the domestic currency is assumed to be 1 in case of a direct quotation. The price
being quoted explains the number of units of foreign currency that can be exchanged for a single
unit of domestic currency.

 Example: An example of direct quotation would be

USD/JPY: 143.15/18

This quote suggests that roughly 143 units of Japanese Yen can be exchanged for 1 unit of
United States Dollar. The two rates provided are bid and ask rates i.e. the different rates at which
the market maker is willing to buy and sell the currency.

 Usage: The direct quote method is one of the most widely used quotation methods across the
world. This is the norm for quoting Forex prices and is assumed de facto until another method
has been explicitly mentioned.

Indirect Quotation
 Meaning: This method is the opposite of the direct quotation method. Under this method, the
quote is expressed in terms of foreign currency. Therefore this rate assumes one unit of foreign
currency. It then expresses how many units of domestic currency are required to obtain a single
unit of a foreign currency. Sometimes this quote is also expressed in terms of 100 units of foreign
currency. This method is often referred to as the quantity quotation method.

Since this method is quoted in terms of foreign currency, the quoted rate has a direct correlation
with the domestic rate. If the quote goes up, so does the value of the domestic currency and vice
versa.

 Example: An example of indirect quotation would be:

EUR/USD: 0.875/79

In this case, the first currency i.e. EUR is the domestic currency. Therefore, the indirect quote
refers to approximately 0.875 EUR being exchanged for 1 unit of USD. Once again the two rates
provided are the bid ask rate i.e. the two different rates at which market makers are willing to buy
and sell the currency.
 Usage: The usage of indirect currency quotation is extremely rare. It is only in the
Commonwealth countries like United Kingdom and Australia that the indirect quotation method is
used as a result of convention.