1 / 20

North-South

Unit 2. North-South. Political Factions. First World Developed market economies Second World Centrally planned economies Third World Non-aligned countries. The North-South Gap. The North/South Gap and Country Classifications The most basic way of measuring the gap is through the GNP

matthias-xylon
Download Presentation

North-South

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Unit 2 North-South

  2. Political Factions First World • Developed market economies Second World • Centrally planned economies Third World • Non-aligned countries

  3. The North-South Gap • The North/South Gap and Country Classifications • The most basic way of measuring the gap is through the GNP • Gross National Product measures economic position • A more telling measure is Physical Quality of Life Index – PQLI • PQLI includes: • Infant mortality • Life expectancy • literacy

  4. Effects of Population Growth • Populations in developing countries are growing • Populations in developed countries are declining • The greater the population, the greater the demands for services • Health • Housing • Education • Sanitation

  5. In developed countries, needs met by increased tax dollars • In developing countries, high joblessness and low wages means low taxes collected • Growing populations add pressure on forests, arable land and fresh water • Lack of financial means to import resources puts additional strain on natural resources • Exploitation of resources by First World Countries (MDCs) weakens LDCs and LLDCs

  6. Effects of Politics • LDCs and LLDCs often served as battlegrounds for super powers (North and South Korea; North and South Vietnam) • Populations and resources decimated • US and USSR supported conflicting sides in Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East • The MDCs exported the arms; the LDCs and LLDCs imported them

  7. The History

  8. Colonialism • Began in 1500s • Europe founded colonies in the Americas, Africas and Asia • Introduced permanent changes • Developed relationships with “mother country” • “mother country” dominant/colony dependent

  9. Roles Colonies: • Supplied raw materials • Minerals, cotton, sugar, tea, coffee, rubber and cheap labour Mother Country • Direction, organization, capital investment, followed by technology and manufactured products

  10. Results • Colonies drawn into global market • Geared export crops and products to European markets • Eliminated or reduced production of traditional goods • Dealt in European currency • Small farms bought out by large corporations • Grew cash crops only • Women worked to produce food crops • Men worked away from home on plantations

  11. Problems • Countries now evaluated on how much money they could earn • However, unfair balance of trade existed • Raw materials worth less on the world market than finished product • Many countries produced one or two main crops so they were affected by the market price • Countries remained dependent on “mother countries” for infrastructure (roads, ports, schools, storage)

  12. Neocolonialism • Benefits of trade were one-sided • Few colonies had systems in place to take over the reins • Shifted into neocolonialism = control by Northern economic forces of newly independent countries in the south

  13. Multinational Corporations MNCs • Political control had been taken over by multinational corporations (MNCs) • MNCs’ interests were economic not social • Invested huge amounts of money into LDCs and LLDCs but only a small portion of the population benefitted

  14. Infrastructures improved but only in areas of industrialization • People had jobs, but wages were poor • Land was used for agriculture but single crops planted • Pesticides and fertilizers used excessively • Multinationals courted by developing countries • Offered tax free perks, free land, cheap labour • Faced with decline in prices for products, developing countries became more indebted to MNCs

  15. The Burden of Debt • Borrowing money became norm for developing countries • Economic changes can be disastrous i.e. recession • Interest rates rise, export earnings decline • Government forced to spend money on loan repayment while social spending declines

  16. Government and the Gap • Many governments military and elitist • Set policies to promote self interest • Corruption widespread • Rich get richer…poor suffer • Any attempts by people to oust governments thwarted by MNCs.

  17. Addressing the Gap • Often aid is tied to economic conditions • MDCs offer aid in exchange for purpose of goods and equipment from their country • Improves jobs and revenue in MDC but leave LDC and LLDC with goods they don’t want or need

  18. Often aid tied to military conditions • MDCs offer aid in exchange for permission to set up military bases and test sites

  19. Development Models • In 1950s and 60s, a country’s development was assessed on its GNP • Rich nations invested large amounts of money into poorer nations to boost GNP • World Bank and International Monetary Fund founded to provide multilateral loans • The capitalist model did not work for many LDCs and LLDCs.

  20. http://www.globalissues.org/issue/50/corporations • http://actrav.itcilo.org/actrav-english/telearn/global/ilo/multinat/multinat.htm • http://www2.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ355/choi/mul.htm

More Related