Unless you live in North Korea you’re probably reliant on international trade in one way
or another.
Possibly the food you ate today is farmed or grown overseas.
The pen you used to write the shopping list to buy the food you ate was probably manufactured
overseas.
Your mobile phone or laptop was almost certainly made overseas.
The specific parts to that laptop were probably made in different countries.
Your car will have had its parts made all over the world before being assembled.
We live in a world reliant on overseas trade.
But what would happen if countries decided to stop trading with one another?
Would society grind to a halt?
Would we all become self-sufficient within our own nations?
That’s what we’ll find out today on the Infographics Show as we ask – What if World
Trade Stops?
What Will Happen?
International, or world trade, is the exchange of goods, capital, and services across international
borders and territories.
International trading accounts for a significant slice of a country’s gross national product.
International trade has been with us throughout history and will likely stay with us for years
to come.
The Silk Road, the Amber Road, the Atlantic Slave Trade, The British East India Company,
and the scramble for Africa are all episodes in the rich history of world trade.
The economic, social and political importance of world trade has been on the rise in recent
years.
A world economy has formed with each trading partner contributing towards both the import
and export of goods and services worldwide.
So let’s imagine for a moment that countries stopped trading with one another.
Imagine if a country such as Iceland were to stop trading.
It would have an excess of fish and not much in the way of motor vehicles or air-conditioning
units.
Iceland would have to revert to its pre-international trade way of life.
Would there be a loss of living standards?
Yes, but the people of Iceland got along okay before international trade.
But they would notice a huge difference in living standards if trade were to stop flowing
to them.
Certain countries excel in the manufacturing, the growing, the production, and the creation
of certain products.
Certain nations have come to be known for delivering certain services.
The world of advertising and television has created a global societal phenomenon whereby
we all expect to live our lives with the opportunity to each hold and own the same items.
How realistic this ambition is remains to be seen.
But the expectations are there.
Expectations are everywhere.
A family in Bhutan expect to be able to watch a Hollywood film.
A businessman in Thailand expects to drive a German motorcar.
A family in Brazil expect to decorate their homes with furniture made in Sweden.
A Malaysian restaurant serves Lobster from Maine, escargot from Paris, and prawns from
Phuket.
The desirability of products made in other countries is driven not only by the quality
of the product, but also by market forces driven by advertising.
Across the world it is widely accepted that the best time pieces are made in Switzerland
while Asia produces the world standard in rice.
We like to have products shipped in from various places.
But let’s imagine that overnight our financial system collapses and all countries stopped
trading.
It is hard to imagine such an event taking place, but putting it another way, perhaps
money is suddenly worthless, so there is no point in trading.
Small external countries would be left to fend for themselves.
Larger countries with both supplies and the means to produce products would be okay.
But citizens would struggle to survive in those smaller unsustainable countries and
would be subject to mass migration, heading to territories where there is promise of food
and goods.
The self-contained countries would be in a much better position.
Nations that farm their own foods and manufacture their own products would not see much change
apart from the mass of immigrants attempting to enter their country.
This may result in conflict and resistance, but history tells us that the mass migration
is not such a tragic event.
If we look at the mass migration following the Second World War or the immigration from
the middle-east after the more recent conflicts we learn that modern society can deal with
such large movements of populations.
The flow of people from country to country would be immense in the advent of an international
trade blackout.
No longer would the cities be the desirable place to live.
People would move out into agricultural zones and settle in towns and villages.
Farming would become a part of daily life and citizens would be encouraged to learn
skills such as carpentry and craftwork.
No longer would people work for international business.
Instead they would work for the benefit of their fellow townspeople.
Life would be very much like it must have been for the pioneers who first settled in
the United States of America.
The driving force and desirability for international products would weaken.
Chinese businessmen probably wouldn’t travel to Africa to purchase animal skins.
American high-flyers would not rush to Russia in search of caviar.
Economist Raymond Vernon in the 1960s attempted to explain global trade patterns by using
the “product life-cycle” theory.
When a new product is introduced to a country a demand grows, and that demand triggers interest
in other nations which gives rise to exports.
Many of the things we think we need to get along in life we don’t actually need.
If a country can provide water, sanitation, food, clothing, and shelter, the rest is really
just a bonus.
What do you think would happen if world trade suddenly stopped overnight?
Would there be mass hysteria and an outbreak of war?
Or would people simply learn to cope by reverting back to their ways of life before the advent
of international trade.
Let us know in the comments section below.
Also, be sure to watch our other video called Japan’s Population Problem.
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe, see you
next time.