| Popis: |
The term globalisation is now widely used to capture a variety of economic, cultural, social, and political trends that are each extending the boundaries of the world’s social systems beyond the borders of its nation-states (Steger 2002; Waters 2001; Leyton-Brown 1996, 11). Globalisation, as we now understand it, has become possible as a result of technological changes that are literally making the world smaller with improvements to transportation and communication. International voyages that once took days or even weeks to complete at the turn of the century are now completed in a matter of hours through air transportation. The improvements to transportation and shipping technology have reduced average ocean freight charges from $95 per short ton in 1920 to $29 in 1990. Between 1930 and 1990, the average air transport revenue per passenger-mile fell from 68 cents to 11 cents, while the cost of a 3-minute telephone call from New York to London dropped from $244.65 to $3.32 (Office of the U.S. President 1997, 243).1 Communications and other transactions that once took days are now completed in a matter of seconds through computer networks. This same computer technology has placed global information storage, retrieval, and processing capabilities in the hands of individuals at a cost of a few hundred dollars, when it previously required millions of dollars in hardware, technical support, and personnel (Leyton-Brown 1996, 11). |
