• Greenway Public Project 007: Localization and Globalization
  • 1 Is the best policy to continue to encourage Globalization at the expense of Localization in South Carolina?
  • 2 Optimizing the Combination of Localization and Globalization in South Carolina

"The New Global Economy" is the answer to all our problems." Well, maybe not.

"We should put up protectionist walls to keep foreigners out, returning to the simpler life of our local economies". Well, maybe not.

Unless a global upheaval of epic proportions occurs, globalization is here to stay in South Carolina. But like many things in life, it is a two-edged sword. While it has brought great benefit to our state, it is not, and never will be the "promised land" that some claim.

The relatively massive investment that foreign-owned and operated companies have made in South Carolina over the past fifty years has accomplished something that our local economy could not do well: rapid economic revitalization. It has been reported that a little over one in five South Carolinians work for a foreign-owned company. Cheap labor, great weather and low taxes have fueled this shift from "local" to "global".

But at what cost?

(incomplete draft, more to follow)