Impact of Capital Mobility and Globalization on Twentieth Century United States Economic History and Development

Introduction

Globalization is one of the concepts that have been experiences in the entire world especially in matters of business and it comes with its own freshness each day. Most countries have so far integrated to form a small village where businesses can be done without barriers in place. To enhance this global movement of business, various countries have engaged in what is called capital mobility. Capital mobility is a situation where there is a relocation of capital investment from one country to another. In most cases capital mobility has been a solution to the various treats arising from a monopolistic kind of a business. This discussion is focused on the dramatic impact of capital mobility and globalization on United States economic history and development in the twentieth century. To examine this, we are going to look at the implication of this capital mobility and globalization on the country's economy as we trace the journey of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), the reason of its movement and the effect it left behind on the communities in which it was based. Cowie's demonstrates this by using this manufacturing company with its nature of relocating to show how capital mobility is used to increases profit and its effect on the political economy on the other hand becoming a waste of power of labor.

Discussion

Considering the fact that globalization is not a recent phenomenon in United States, many factors have contributed to the happenings of these global movements. Globalization and capital mobility in most cases have had a positive impact in the economy of a nation. On the other hand, globalization in other countries is a connotation of threats to the well-being of a nation and even to its national political and economic security. As many of the individuals have developed fear on globalization, relocation of manufacturing companies within U.S in the twentieth century is not a different case. Americans with an experience of downsizing in its quarter-century and factory relocations like that of RCA has left the nation anxious on how to get and keep a job even during an era of unemployment.

Establishment of this RCA in United States brought about positive and negative impact in its economy especially the political economy. Cowie examines this when he disputed the fact that globalization is not a new and recent phenomenon as it roots from the time RCA, a manufacturer of electronics such as radios and televisions was established (Joshua 273). He demonstrated the so called 'new international division of labor' embedded in 1960 which was the beginning of labor and gender control, militancy of work leading to increase globalization of production especially in the second half of the 20th century. RCA first started its operations in Camden, New Jersey in the year 1929 whereby it grew and moved to other countries and got established Ciudad Juarez in the United States in the year 1964. With an intention to assemble consumer products they employed young women who had less skill whereby they could pay them by the pieces. Mid 1930s, the unpaid young women got involved in a union which fought for their rights resulting to RCA dispersing its production throughout the country. By 1954, so many of these workers lost their jobs leading to the city's severe destruction and an economic depression. Another replacement for Camden got established in Bloomington, Indiana which brought a lot of transformation to the region. The economy of the nations transformed the economic fabric and social status of many individuals living in the region. Within no time the workers got familiar with the casual working in the process getting more experience hence demanding better working conditions and an increase in wages. Slowly by slowly, the demand of workers increased with many firms springing up leading to development of labor shortage. With all this in place the workers forth for their rights through organizing a strike and again RCA looked for a way to escape the rising cost of labor and militant workers.

The moves taken by RCA had a great motivation behind it that is its desire to obtain cheap labor, which was compliant to the workers especially in the hiring of single women as the main employees. As illustrated by Joshua (273), RCA had much desire to have a domicile workforce because of the increasingly need for labor in the corporation. RCA had a central thesis of women workers who will remain domicile and cheap hence securing their jobs. After a while RCA found another spot in Ciudad Juarez, United States which eventually became the first corporation to be established in United States in conjunction with a launch of Boarder Industrialization Program. This program was meant to suspend tariffs on imported products in reducing competition in Mexican market hence countering with the large number of unemployment in the northern region of the nation. With this program in place, operations in Ciudad Juarez expanded to an emergence of three factories. Yet within no time again, Juarez also went through the same experience whereby the markets tightened and workers started protesting for their rights. The result of this was a unionization and rank-and-file militancy of the three plants which had already been established in the United States. At this point RCA as a corporation