Please discuss, in general terms, how Brazil might capitalise on this Essay

Please discuss, in general terms, how Brazil might capitalise on this opportunity to ensure success in the global market - Essay Example Although globalization has facilitated Brazil in this respect, the economy has to confront several issues, such as foreign direct investment and national differences among political economy, which can possibly influence the economic and commercial performance by the country. This report provides an overview of the position of Brazil as a major agricultural and fuel exporter in the world economy. It also provides insights on the issues that the economy has to handle and recommends on how Brazil can further capitalize on its position to ensure long term success in the international market. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Globalization and its effects 4 Globalization in Brazil 5 Production of ethanol in Brazil 7 Environmental and ethical issues faced by Brazil owing to ethanol production 8 Ethical issues 8 Foreign Direct Investment 9 National Differences in Political Economy 10 Exports and Imports situation 10 Conclusion and Recommendations 11 References 13 Appendix 15 Introductio n The Brazilian economy has been exhibiting high rates of economic growth, although the country is still plagued with various issues and imbalances. One of the primary reasons is that Brazil has a vast and strong domestic market that facilitates the development of a stable equilibrium of its demand and supply. This attribute of the economy imparts to it the confidence to maintain its growth rate. The support of the internal factors such as a strong domestic market builds up the ability of the economy to continue growing at this pace and ensures that it is protected from the vulnerabilities of the external competitive world. This leads to sustainable development of the country. However, in order to increase Brazil’s presence in the world market, the economy has to adhere to the policies and regulations and increase its focus on making innovations. Globalization and its effects The world economy is experiencing a major shift since the beginning of the 19th century. The 19th cen tury marked the beginning of a phenomenon known as globalization. Although globalization is believed by scholars to have a long history, the onset of ‘modern globalization’ is said to have been in the 19th century (O'Rourke and Williamson, 2000). The 19th century imperialism had made a huge contribution to shape the modern form of globalization when the European countries conquered many parts of the world, including the sub-Saharan Africa (Economic-geography, 2012). In the mid twentieth century, globalization was driven largely by the multinational corporations most of which were based in the United States. During this period the world saw a wide spread of the American culture. Two factors of the macro environment might be held responsible to lead the way towards globalization. Firstly, the barriers to the â€Å"free flow of goods, services, and capital† (Hill, 2011, p. 12) have been on the decline after the World War II ended. The second factor is the advent of disruptive technology that has brought swift and vast changes in the fields of communication, transfer of knowledge and information and processing of information. According to Hill, globalization is a shift in the economic and social functioning of the different economies towards an integrated and more interdependent economic system. This process can be broadly segmented into two facets; namely, globalization of the markets and globalization of the production process (Hill, 2011). There is a wide assortment of markets in the different countries, each of which has its own