The globalization debate raises several important questions about future workforce trends and public policy responses:
What is the impact of globalization on productivity and on the real wages and real incomes of workers as a whole?
How does globalization affect the demand for various groups of workers as well as the distribution of real wages and incomes?
To what extent does globalization limit the ability of governments to take constructive actions on behalf of the work force and disadvantaged groups?
What policies can permit the country to take advantage of the gains from globalization while minimizing its costs?
The literature on each of these questions is far too extensive to review in this paper. However, we provide some basic facts and draw on a range of analyses to clarify the various positions on these questions. The first step is to clarify the meaning of globalization. In addition to international trade, globalization embodies foreign direct investment, international financial flows, international migration, and cultural interactions.