Economic Acitivities and Economic Inequality

Economic Geography

 

Natural Resources

•          Natural resources are materials in the natural environment that people value and use to satisfy their needs.

•          Renewable resources are natural resources that are constantly being replaced or regenerated by the environment.

•          Soil and fresh water are constantly being replenished by natural processes.

•          Nonrenewable resources are resources that cannot be replaced once they have been used.

•          Nonrenewable resources are minerals that formed within the earth’s crust over millions of years.

•          Coal, oil, and natural gas are nonrenewable fossil fuels that formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals.

•          Recycling and reduction of consumption are ways of stretching limited supplies of nonrenewable resources.

 

§  Renewable resources examples would be soil, water, and forests

§  Nonrenewable resources examples--fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas), and metals (gold, iron, copper, and bauxite)

 

Human Resources

 

►   Human resources are man and his mind

►   Human resources depend on level of education, whether it is skilled or unskilled labor, and are entrepreneurial or managerial abilities needed.

 

Capital Resources

 

►   Capital resources are resources that can be used to make more, like money or tools

►   key features of capital are the availability of money for lending, the level of infrastructure, the availability and use of tools, machines, and technologies

►    

 

Energy Sources

 

•         Modern industrial countries use energy to light cities, power vehicles, and run machines.

 

•         Fossil fuels are the most important and heavily used source of energy, but oil and natural gas reserves are spread unevenly across the world and will not last forever.

•         Nuclear energy is produced by fission, the splitting of uranium atoms in a nuclear reactor to release their stored energy, but many concerns surround the use of nuclear power.

•         Water power uses the energy of falling water to generate electricity.

•         Geothermal energy uses the energy that comes from the earth’s internal heat to produce steam to heat homes or make electricity.

•         Solar energy is energy produced by the sun that is stored to heat water and homes and to generate electricityThree levels of economic activity

 

What are four different categories of economic activities?

Why are global trade patterns changing today?

What kinds of data indicate a country’s level of development?

 

•         Primary economic activities are those that rely directly upon natural resources, of which hunting, gathering, herding, forestry, farming, and mining are examples.

•         Subsistence farming is the practice of only growing enough to feed one’s family or village, and commercial farming is the practice of raising crops and livestock to sell on the market.

•         Secondary economic activities are those in which raw materials are used to manufacture products of greater value.

•         A cottage industry is a small-scale industry practiced in subsistence economies, while commercial industry turns out large quantities of manufactured goods.

•         Tertiary economic activities are service industries, which involve firefighters, lawyers, and salespersons.

•         Quaternary economic activities are jobs that focus on the acquisition, processing, and sharing of information, such as education and government.

 

Nations set up trade networks when they do not have all the resources and goods they want.

Goods that are sent out of a country are called exports, and goods that are brought into a country are imports.

Governments seek a favorable balance of imports and exports because too many imports can be damaging to a nation’s economy by increasing unemployment and the nation’s debt.

Trade routes are determined by geography, transportation technology, and international relations.

Modern technology is changing the nature of global trade, as computer and satellite networks allow business deals and payment transactions to be conducted electronically.

 

 

Economic activities and trade patterns affect a country’s level of development.

Modern industrial societies are considered to be developed, countries with lower levels of prosperity are considered to be underdeveloped, and nations showing evidence of progress are called developing countries.

The wealth of countries can be compared by looking at the per capita gross domestic product (GDP).

Developed countries enjoy a higher standard of living compared to developing and undeveloped countries.

Developed countries have higher levels of education and health care, and they have more transportation and communication facilities per person.

People in developed countries consume more food and live longer than people in poorer countries.

 

 

 

Energy resources and technology as it has changed over time:

 

 

Wood—deforestation

 

Coal--pollution, mining problems, competition with oil and gas

 

Petroleum--transportation, environmental considerations

 

Nuclear--contamination, waste

 

Solar or wind--cost, aesthetics

 

 

Patterns of land use

 

Most economic activities are relatively close to the natural resources they use; ex.-coal/steel,  grain/cattle, fishing/ocean, hydroelectric power/aluminum smelting.

 

Not all nations are close to the resources they use: ex.--Japan has limited natural resources, but they are a major industrial power and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have lots of oil, but no major industries.

 

Examples of technology creating demand

 

Some new technologies have created a demand for a particular natural resource--steam engine and coal, internal combustion engine and gas, computer chips and skilled labor.

 

Costs and benefits from using natural resources

 

Costs

 

►    1.  Resource depletion.

►    2.  Environmental destruction       

►    3.  Health problems

 

Benefits

 

►   1.  Helps us produce goods and services.

►   2.  It creates employment opportunities

►    3. It helps develop new technologies

 

 

 

 

The effects of unequal distribution of resources

 

Because resources are distributed unequally around the world, it causes several things to happen:

 

1.  Interdependence of nations -- they must trade with each other to acquire the goods they do not possess.

 

2.  Uneven economic development (rich and poor countries).

 

3.  Energy producers and consumers.

 

4.  Imperialism (one country dominating another).

 

5. Conflicts over control of resources.

 

 

Developed nations are generally urban. Most people in developed nations work in secondary and tertiary areas. Most developed nations have a high GDP. Most developed nations have a highly educated population.

 

Indicators of standard of living and quality of life

 

A nation has a high standard of living and a high quality of life if…

 

§  the population growth rate is low

§  the population age distribution is even

§  The literacy rate, life expectancy rate and percentage of urban people is high

§  the infant mortality is low

 

Why do countries trade?

 

►   To import goods and services they need

►   to export goods and services they can sell for profit

 

What influences economic activity?

 

1. A country’s access to human, natural and capital resources.

 

Do they have a skilled workforce?

Do they have natural resources?

Are their transportation and communication networks modern, outdated or nonexistent?

Do they have access to new technology?

 

 

 

2. A country’s location and ability to exchange goods.

 

Are they landlocked?

Are they an island or coastal nation?

How close are they to shipping lanes?

What is their access to communications?

Are they members of a political or economic alliance that provides access to markets? (Examples would be, the European Union (EU), North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA))

 

What is comparative advantage?

 

►   Comparative advantage means a country will export goods and services that they can produce at lower relative costs than other countries.

 

What are the effects of comparative advantage?

 

►   Enables nations to produce goods and services they can sell for profit

►   influences the development of industries (ex. steel, aircraft, automobile, clothing)

►   supports specialization and efficient use of human resources

 

Examples of countries and their use of resources

 

►   Japan--highly industrialized despite limited natural resources

►   Russia--has numerous resources but many are not economically profitable to actually develop

►   United States--diversified economy , specialized industry, abundant resources

►   Cote d’Ivorie--limited natural resources, but they use cash crops to buy manufactured goods

►   Switzerland--has limited natural resources, but produces goods on a global scale

 

What are the effects of unequal distribution of resources?

►   Unequal distribution of resources causes countries to specialize in the goods and services they produce.  It also encourages countries to trade with one another for the goods they can not produce themselves.  It allows only some to make a profit.

 

How has economic interaction changed over time?

 

►   Labor has moved from individual homes (cottage industry) to factories to offices to telecommunications.

►   There has been a large migration from rural to urban areas.

►   Industrialized countries now export labor intensive work to developing nations.

►   Trade alliances have grown in number.

►   Service industries (tertiary) have grown in number.

►   Financial service networks and international banks have increased.

►   Products have become internationally assembled instead of everything being made in one location (ex. vehicles, electronics).

►   Modern transportation networks that allow for rapid and efficient exchange of goods and services (ex.  Federal Express, UPS, US Postal Service) have grown.

►   Widespread marketing of products has increased (ex. Fuji, Nike, etc).

 

Examples of Economic Unions

 

►   EU--European Union

►   NAFTA--North American Free Trade Agreement

►   OPEC--Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

►   ASEAN--Association of Southeast Asian Nations

 

Advantages of Economic Unions

 

►   They allow for more efficient industries

►   They have access to larger markets

►   They have access to more human, natural, and capital resources without restrictions

►   They have a greater influence on world markets

 

Disadvantages of economic Unions

 

►   They cause some industries to close

►   Certain industries become concentrated in particular countries while forgetting the smaller ones.

►   Agribusiness is replacing the family farm.

►   There is often difficulty in agreeing on common economic policies.

 

 

GLOBALIZATION (CULTURE)

Globalization and Culture Change

 

Transformation of culture, or cultural change, to the dynamic process whereby the living cultures of the world are changing and adapting to external or internal forces. This process is occurring within Western culture as well as non-Western and indigenous cultures and cultures of the world. Forces which contribute to the cultural change described in this article include: colonization, globalization, advances in communication, transport and infrastructure improvements, and military expansion.

Many of the themes discussed in the context of transformation of cultures and cultural change have particular urgency for the world's indigenous peoples. Indigenous systems of collective economic production and distribution do not conform to capitalism's emphasis on individual accumulation. This phenomenon is not new, although processes of globalization have increased the scale and frequency of such conflicts of perspective. The contradictions between indigenous and capitalist modes of production, and the tensions generated by their intersection, have deep historical roots in the process of colonization. In many cases, the two worldviews are indeed antithetical. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an Igorot activist from the Philippines, summarizes the difference when she writes that "industrialized culture regards our values as unscientific obstacles to modernization and thus worthy of ridicule, suppression, and denigration. The industrial world also views our political, social, and land-tenure traditions as dangerous: our collective identities; our communal ownership of forests, waters, and lands; our usufruct system of community sharing, and our consensus decision-making are all antithetical to the capitalist hallmarks of individualism and private property." Many indigenous peoples view "resources" in a very different way from that of global industry's commodity-centered calculus. A leader of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, Secwepemc author Arthur Manuel writes: "Mainstream economists tend to value development strategies solely in terms of their wealth generation potential for industry and governments. So resources are viewed in strictly monetary terms. But indigenous peoples consider the value of land and resources in far broader, more integrated terms, including cultural, social, spiritual and environmental values, and their sustainability. Among indigenous peoples, decisions about caring for resources and the environment are usually made as part of a collective process, where the community takes into account a full spectrum of values and benefits other than short-term economic gains"Around the world many indigenous groups have over centuries or millennia successfully sustained economies in one particular place and ecosystem. The co-adaptation of people with other elements of their ecological systems has meant that the integrity and functioning of these systems has been sustained even as the communities' culture developed and changed historically. These economic arrangements are viewed as one component of a cultural understandings that include sacred interactions with the world. Indigenous economies can thus be seen to be sustainable to the extent to which the holders of culture interact in a culturally appropriate way with the world around them, including those elements of the world known to modern scientists as "natural resources". In many areas indigenous people have sustained communities for centuries, and the ecological systems of which they are a component have maintained relative richness and resilience to natural perturbations such as drought or fires. The ecosystems that have been remained predominantly under control and care of indigenous peoples thus tend to be characterized by high biodiversity, abundant renewable resources, and relatively unexploited nonrenewable resources. For many indigenous groups, the advent of globalization threatens the sustainability of their economies by making their land and knowledge valuable targets as commodities in a globalized economy.

Environmental stresses and impacts on cultures

Cultures around the world are undergoing change due to environmental stresses, such as climate change. Globalization and increased consumerism are increasing environmental stress by contributing to deforestation. In addition to deforestation, other stresses such as introduction of foreign species, pollution, and urban sprawl.

Indigenous resistance

In many cases, however, indigenous people have not passively acceded to the penetration of extractive capitalism into their communities. The following section thus not only reviews how globalization impacts indigenous people, but also describes how indigenous communities resist or negotiate to defend their territories and cultural integrity.

Economic policy, when set on a global scale, can undermine the political gains that indigenous peoples may have made within the legal systems of nation states. Victor Menotti of the International Forum on Globalization has written of how World Trade Organization(WTO) authority is diminishing the sovereignty of nation states over their land, water, genetic material, and public services. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), for example, favors the privatization of systems (such as those for water distribution) that serve the general public but without an equitable provision of services that is often at odds with maximization of profits. Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) imposed as a condition of loans from global finance agencies such as the World Bank also often mandate privatization. The effects on indigenous peoples and other poor people can be devastating. World Bank-mandated SAP privatization of coal mining in the Indian state of Orissa in the 1990s, for example, resulted in contamination of rivers, increased rates of fluoride poisoning, infections, and cancer, displacement of towns, and power rates that increased by 500%. The World Bank and IMF have also made water privatization a prior condition for granting loans and debt reductions. Structural adjustment programs also weaken national-level environmental and labor laws that indigenous communities may have relied on in previous struggles to maintain control over territory and resources.

Other new international trade rules also negatively impact indigenous peoples. For example, Article I of GATT prohibits national governments from restricting imported goods specifically from any single other WTO member nation. This article thus makes it impossible for national governments to restrict imports from other WTO countries with questionable human rights, labor, or environmental records and thus disallows a potential safeguard for the rights of indigenous peoples. Article III of the GATT, together with its corollary Articles V and XI, requires governments to treat all imports "no less favorably" than locally produced goods and bans restrictions on imports. Victor Menotti writes of how this feature of GATT "prevents any government from favoring or protecting it own local industries, or farmers or cultures that might otherwise by overwhelmed by globe-spanning corporations bringing vast amounts of cheap imports that make local or indigenous economies non-viable". Similar "free trade" policies under NAFTA have already been demonstrated to undercut the livelihoods of small-scale Mexican corn farmers, many of whom are indigenous, who are unable to compete with cheap, mass-produced grain from the US.

Technological impacts

Technological innovations can enhance, displace or devalue human existence and culture. Advances in medical technology have contributed to demographic changes, including increased longevity and decreasing fertility. For example, although China has slowed its population increases through a one-child per family policy, the median age of its people will soar in the next 35 years. In some Third World countries, kidneys, eyes and skin are sold in a flourishing market for body parts There is also rising concern amongst many indigenous people groups over the interrelated issues of genetic patenting and biopiracy. For example, a Guaymi woman was diagnosed with leukemia in 1991. Whilst in hospital in the city of Panama she had blood samples taken and without her knowledge or free, prior, and informed consent. The cell-line enclosed in these samples was stored, "immortalized", patented, and put up for sale at a price of $136 US dollars. The scientists involved in this process claimed to have "invented" this woman's cell-line. Their rationale for taking the samples and processing them for patenting was that these samples held "commercial promise" in the scientific world for the discovery of potential medical breakthroughs and that the government encourages the patenting of anything which may have a link to such a discovery. The main contention in the debate apart from ethical dilemmas over genetic research is the fact that the woman from whom the samples were taken was never consulted about the process, so in effect, the whole process was done without her knowing it was going on or understanding what was happening to her.^[24] This presents an additional dilemma alongside the issue of genetic manipulation: freedom of information. There is also the implication of "why her", "why an indigenous Guaymi woman and not a Euro-American". This type of technological case-in-point presents as a more recent dilemma for indigenous groups because commonly, such failure to properly inform insofar as the impact of either scientific research endeavours or corporate-style development schemes are concerned has historically tended to coincide with policies and paradigms of practice which have their basis in racial discrimination.

On the more positive side, certain technological innovations such as computers, the Internet, and miscellaneous sound and visual recording media have been welcomed and embraced by indigenous peoples as a means of communicating to wider society their concerns about the dilemmas not only faced by them but by the whole world in view of the extent of socioeconomic, cultural and political transformations that have continued to evolve and impact global diversity in far-reaching and often unpredictable ways.

Sociocultural globalization

 

Shakira, a Colombian multilingual singer-songwriter, playing outside her home country.

Culture

Cultural globalization has increased cross-cultural contacts but may be accompanied by a decrease in the uniqueness of once-isolated communities: sushi is available in Germany as well as Japan, but Euro-Disney outdraws the city of Paris, potentially reducing demand for "authentic" French pastry. Globalisation's contribution to the alienation of individuals from their traditions may be modest compared to the impact of modernity itself, as alleged by existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Globalization has expanded recreational opportunities by spreading pop culture, particularly via the Internet and satellite television.

 

A McDonald's in Osaka, Japan illustrates the McDonaldization of global society

Religious movements were among the earliest cultural forces to globalize, spread by force, migration, evangelists, imperialists and traders. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and more recently sects such as Mormonism have taken root and influenced endemic cultures in places far from their origins.

Conversi claimed in 2010 that globalization was predominantly driven by the outward flow of culture and economic activity from the United States and was better understood as Americanization, or Westernization. For example, the two most successful global food/beverage outlets are American companies, McDonald's and Starbucks, are often cited as examples of globalization, with over 32,000^[91] and 18,000 locations operating worldwide, respectively as of 2008.

The term globalization implies transformation. Cultural practices including traditional music can be lost and/or turned into a fusion of traditions. Globalization can trigger a state of emergency for the preservation of musical heritage. Archivists must attempt to collect, record or transcribe repertoire before melodies are assimilated or modified. Local musicians struggle for authenticity and to preserve local musical traditions. Globalization can lead performers to discard traditional instruments. Fusion genres can become interesting fields of analysis.

Globalization gave support to the World Music phenomenon by allowing locally-recorded to reach western audiences searching for new ideas and sounds. For example, Western musicians have adopted many innovations that originated in other cultures.

The term was originally intended for ethnic-specific music, though globalization is expanding its scope; it now often includes hybrid sub-genres such as World fusion, Global fusion, Ethnic fusion and Worldbeat.

 

A Coca-Cola stall outside the Grand Gateway 66 shopping mall in Xujiahui, Shanghai

Music flowed outward from the west as well. Anglo-American pop music spread across the world through MTV. Dependency Theory explained that the world was an integrated, international system. Musically, this translated into the loss of local musical identity.

Bourdieu claimed that the perception of consumption can be seen as self-identification and the formation of identity. Musically, this translates into each being having his own musical identity based on likes and tastes. These likes and tastes are greatly influenced by culture as this is the most basic cause for a person's wants and behavior. The concept of one's own culture is now in a period of change due to globalization. Also, globalization has increased the interdependency of political, personal, cultural and economic factors.

A 2005 UNESCO report showed that cultural exchange is becoming more frequent from Eastern Asia but Western countries are still the main exporters of cultural goods. In 2002, China was the third largest exporter of cultural goods, after the UK and US. Between 1994 and 2002, both North America's and the European Union's shares of cultural exports declined, while Asia's cultural exports grew to surpass North America. Related factors are the fact that Asia's population and area are several times that of North America. Americanization related to a period of high political American clout and of significant growth of America's shops, markets and object being brought into other countries. So globalization, a much more diversified phenomenon, relates to a multilateral political world and to the increase of objects, markets and so on into each other's countries. The Indian experience particularly reveals the plurality of the impact of cultural globalization.

Migration

Migration

 

Modern International Migration Tendencies: Migration Dynamics



 

 

 

International migration became a constant feature of human history. People have always moved in order to search for better living standards or to escape poverty, economic instability, political repression, human rights abuses or environmental degradations (Martin, 2001).
The purpose of that short overview of international migration is not simply to show that migration is not a new phenomenon. It is to analyze immigration statistics and present conclusions confirming or negating the hypothesis on the acceleration of migration.

The number of people movement has been changing for the last four centuries. Among events which had crucial influence on migration’s dynamics following should be mentioned: European expansion in the 16th century, the forced transportations of slaves in the 18th century, mass migration from Europe to the United States of America at the beginning of the 19th century and the II World War outbreak (Castles, 2009; Koser 2007). Some authors claim that international migration before 1945, especially mass migration to United States in the 19th century was as big as migration nowadays. It is true, but we have to bear in mind that international migration to the United States was of a transnational character, while the migrants’ flows after 1945 have become more diverse and complex and what is the most important, the flows are to affect every country on Earth (Klein Solomon, 2005).
It is important to explain where the above-mentioned diversity and complexity of migration come from. Migrant’s flows before 1945 divided the world into the traditional countries of immigration and the countries of emigration. Since the second half of the 20th century that dichotomy started to erode. European workers left countries in the southern part of the continent such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece and migrated to countries located in the north and west of Europe, to Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden (Martin and Miller, 1980). Importing migrant workers from Middle East and North Africa was the answer to lack of labor force in Italy, Spain and Portugal(Massey, 2005). That process had profound consequences for migration phenomenon – for the first time traditional countries of emigration became also transit countries and countries of immigration. Migrant workers were brought to a new land as so called guestworkers - workers who would return to their country of origin when their contracts expired (Martin, 1991). However, when the economic conditions that forced the migrants’ requirement disappeared, gastarbeiterer refused to return home. Most of them not only preferred to stay in the receiving country, they also began to demand entry of their family members. (Martin and Miller, 1980).
Alike the countries in Southern Europe, also states located in the Middle East and so called ¨Asian Tigers¨ (Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia) wrestled with lack of labor force, imported work migrants and as a consequence experienced the same transformation in migratory patterns ( Birks and Sinclaire, 1980; Hugo, 1995).

The newest research on international migration number shows that the number of people living their country of origin to live abroad has grown sharply in the last three decades.
According to United Nations definition of migrant, it is a person who stays outside their country of origin for at least one year. The result of United Nations Population Division (UNPD) research shows that in 2010 over than 200 million people, or 3 per cent of the world’s population, lived outside the country of their birth for more than 365 days.

 

 

 

Source: UNDESA 2004, *UNDESA 2009

The analysis of numbers included in a table above shows that it is 15 million migrants more than five years ago, 39 millions of them more than ten years ago, 59 million more than twenty years ago and over 100 million more than thirty years ago. Today, approximately one out of 35 persons in the world is a migrant (Klein Solomon, 2005). It means that the number of people who stay outside their usual country of residence for at least one year more than doubled in just 30 years. It is import ant to bear in mind, however, that the numbers presented above also includes people who never moved, e.g. through the break-down of the Soviet Union, where inhabitants of former Soviet states became independent and counted independently .



Currently the largest number of migrants are migrating to the United States (9.2 million between 2000 and 2009), to Europe (7.5 million between 2000 and 2009) and Asia (7.5 million between 2000 and 2009) (UNDESA, 2009).

 

Source: UNDESA, 2009

Nevertheless, taking under consideration past 29 years from 1980 till 2009, the majority of migrants chose Europe as their country of destination.


Source: UNDESA, 2009

About 20% of world’s international migrants live in United States. The countries with the largest number of migrants are also Russian Federation, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, India and Ukraine (International Migration 2009, United Nations Population Devision).


Source: UNDESA, 2009

There are many reasons to expect that the number of migrants is certain to increase in the foreseeable future. It can happen as a result of political and cultural changes. We should have in mind strong economic conditions in developed countries, widening income gap between developed and still developing countries, creation of new free trade areas as well as economical and political instability in many countries located in the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia (Page and Plaza, 2005; Juss S.S., 2006). A big role of communication and transportation revolution should be emphasized. The revolution in transport refers to increasing numbers of options in international travel and the fact the passengers costs are still decreasing (Koser K., 2007).The revolution in electronic communication (e.g. internet, electronic bulletin boards, satellite television, cell phones), in turn, facilitates getting information on work and accommodation opportunities in other countries and is used in creating a migratory network linking a country of origin with a country of destination bringing about changes in both.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                   

 

 

 

The table shows the 10 states which receive the highest total remittances.

Rank	State	Remittances ($ millions), 2005
1	Michoacán	2,595
2	Guanajuato	1,715
3	Jalisco	1,693
4	State of México	1,675
5	Puebla	1,174
6	Veracruz	1,155
7	Federal District	1,452
8	Oaxaca	1,002
9	Guerrero	957
10	Hidalgo	718

 

The data show very clearly that all the states receiving high total amounts of remittances are in the southern half of Mexico.