The American Image Abroad and the Global Economy

Introduction

The United States is viewed as a highly developed, multicultural and militarily strong nation in the world. U.S., being the leading economy in the world, is also one of the major drivers of global economic activity. Most commodities in the world are priced and traded in US dollars. Recently, however, with the rise of the US debt and with Euro gaining strength the role of the US dollar as the principal currency has been dwindling (Datamonitor 12-25). This essay explores the role of United States in the world economy and how U.S. problems of external and fiscal imbalances affect growth in other parts of the world. In addition, the paper explores the multicultural view of United States that has sustained in the midst of growing globalization.

U.S. Cultural Image on the World

In United States, people are able to bring their cultures along with them to either establish a new or reinforce the existing community in a new country (Kahn p. 5). For instance, there are many types of food in the U.S such as Chinese food, Mexican food, or Italian food and so on. Moreover, people also bring their traditional customs with them too. Typically, Chinese New Year or Cinco De Mayo have become major events in the U.S. This is how cultures diversify via globalization. On the other hand, Americanization is completely different from globalization despite they somewhat share the same function on a regular basis. Both globalization and Americanization equivalently affect the world. However, the effects of Americanization upon cultures are crucially different compare to globalization.

As the consumer culture precedes and the world becomes globalized, many countries realize that they have to make English as one of their official languages. In additions, products and franchises from the computer software Microsoft to the Cocacola all use English because they are from the U.S. The reason is the U.S's domination over the world economy. Therefore, the door to the world is open to anyone who could speak English.

The Economic Hegemony of U.S. in the Global Economy

United States has long been importing far more then exporting and Barak Obama plans to address these trade imbalances in the near future in an effort to boost entrepreneurship. U.S. Federal Reserve plan to put $600 billion into the financial system over several months in order to boost domestic spending and lower rates has been widely criticized by many ...