Editing First World (section)

===Multinational corporations===
A majority of [[multinational corporation]]s find their origins in First World countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, multinational corporations proliferated as more countries focused on global trade.<ref name=mnc1>{{cite book |last1=Barnet |first1=Richard |last2=Cavanagh |first2=John |title=Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order |url=https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0/page/250 250]|isbn=9780671633776 }}</ref> The series of [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]] (GATT) and later the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) essentially ended the protectionist measures that were dissuading global trade.<ref name=mnc1/> The eradication of these protectionist measures, while creating avenues for economic interconnection, mostly benefited developed countries, who by using their power at GATT summits, forced developing and underdeveloped countries to open their economies to Western goods.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnet |first1=Richard |last2=Cavanagh |first2=John |title=Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order |url=https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0 |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/globaldreamsimpe00barn_0/page/354 354]|isbn=9780671633776 }}</ref>

As the world starts to globalize, it is accompanied by criticism of the current forms of globalization, which are feared to be overly corporate-led. As corporations become larger and multinational, their influence and interests go further accordingly. Being able to influence and own most media companies, it is hard to be able to publicly debate the notions and ideals that corporations pursue. Some choices that corporations take to make profits can affect people all over the world. Sometimes fatally.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The third industrial revolution is spreading from the developed world to some, but not all, parts of the developing world. To participate in this new global economy, developing countries must be seen as attractive offshore production bases for multinational corporations. To be such bases, developing countries must provide relatively well-educated workforces, good infrastructure (electricity, telecommunications, transportation), political stability, and a willingness to play by market rules.<ref name=MNC2>{{cite web |last=Thurow |first=Lester C. |title=Globalization: The Product of a Knowledge-Based Economy |url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/auth/checkbrowser.do?rand=0.5902949670045176&cookieState=0&ipcounter=1&bhcp=1 |access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref>

If these conditions are in place, multinational corporations will transfer via their offshore subsidiaries or to their offshore suppliers, the specific production technologies and market linkages necessary to participate in the global economy. By themselves, developing countries, even if well-educated, cannot produce at the quality levels demanded in high-value-added industries and cannot market what they produce even in low-value-added industries such as textiles or shoes. Put bluntly, multinational companies possess a variety of factors that developing countries must have if they are to participate in the global economy.<ref name=MNC2/>