Week 1 Openness

  Openness refers to the degree to which a country is receptive to economic trade, import, export and investment. Openness is the way of the future, but a country must also be careful not to lose its culture. A small trading partner can be treated unfairly because it has less bargaining power than large trading partners. Large trading countries like the United States and China tend to dictate their will in the international market.

     Openness started in the late 1800 with the invention of railways, which facilitated interstate commerce and has been taken to a whole new level in the last three decades thanks to technology. Openness is here to stay whether we like it or not. No country is completely open or completely closed. How economically open a country is depends on the policy the political leaders choose to institute. Just like everything in life, openness has its benefits and its problems. The benefits include increased access to customers, cheaper goods, and global investment opportunities. The problems of openness include fear of job loss and loss of self-identification for a country. Any society that is not open economically is destined to fail. The Soviet Union and China both failed because they were closed economies; today, they both are pursuing some form of capitalism. It is not a coincidence that the richest countries in the world are those that are more open to trade with one another.

     The world is quickly becoming an open forum where all points of view are welcome, and this very thought scares politicians and religious leaders. The seven billion people living on this planet are starting to get a better understanding of each other thanks to openness. In the end, openness should create a place where there is less war and more competition, tolerance and acceptance. Wait! Someone pinch me; maybe I am dreaming, like John Lennon said “You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one”.