Chapter 17: Globalisation
Explainer, notes, worksheet and data.
What you'll learn in this chapter
- define globalisation and evaluate its positive and negative implications
- explain why multinational corporations (MNCs) invest outside their home country
- analyse Irish FDI inflows/outflows over time and evaluate MNC impacts on Ireland
Core ideas
Globalisation increases international interdependence through trade, capital flows and global production chains. In Ireland, this links closely to FDI, export-led growth and the role of the IDA in attracting MNC activity.
Exam focus
- balanced answers: benefits (jobs, competition, growth) vs costs (inequality, environment, job displacement)
- FDI terminology: inflows vs outflows, and why they matter for employment and tax revenue
- data interpretation: describe trends and then explain drivers (policy, competitiveness, global cycles)
Interactive: Current Account Balance
A country's current account balance measures the net flow of goods, services, income, and transfers. Surpluses mean more is exported than imported; deficits mean the opposite.
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2023 (2023 estimates, % of GDP). Ireland's figure shown is the underlying balance, adjusted for MNC distortions — the headline figure (~14% of GDP) is distorted by multinational IP flows.