Our World

Notes 2-22-06

Today in class we took notes and worked on our Sartell maps that are now due on Friday.
Notes.

Affluence- North America has the world's most powerful economy & has the wealthiest population. NA has an abundant resource base- direct extraction of natural resources make up 3% of U.S economy and 6% of Canada's economy. - Opportunities for agriculture- NA has highly mechanized and productive. Agriculture employs 2.6% of U.S. and 3.7% of Canada's labor force. Geography of farming in North America is determined by- Diverse environments, continental & global markets for food, historical patterns of settlement & agriculture. Industrial raw materials- North America has abundant recourses, but still imports raw materials. U.S. produces 12% of worlds oil and consumes 25%. Connectivity fosters economic growth- Connectivity- how well regions are linked together by transportation and community. Major economic activities of North America- Study map on page 68 for the test. The sectoral transformation- changes in employment structures signaled modernization. Sectoral transformation: The evolution of the nations labor force for primary sector activities to secondary, tertiary & quaternary activities. Primary natural resource extraction, secondary manufacturing industrial, tertiary services, quarternery information processing. Today tertiary & quatemary activities employ more than 70% of the U.S. & Canadian labor force. Regional economic patterns. Location factors: varied influences that explain why an economic activity is located where it is. Factors include proximity to natural resources, connectivity, productive labor, market demand, capital investment. Major manufacturing regions: megalopolis & Midwest, sunbelt areas, and west coast locations. Other influences on economic activities: Government spending, access to innovation and research, agglomeration economics. North America and the global economy- North America play a pivotal role in the global economy. Spurred the creation of the International monetary fund. U.S. and Canada members of group seven, a collection of powerful countries that regularly confer on world political & economic issues. Patterns of trade- North America is prominent in both the sale and purchase of goods and services in international economy. Patterns of investment in North America- Foreign capital comes to NA as investment in NA stocks and bonds and a foreign directed investment. Doing business globally- Many U.S. firms have established abroad, U.S. pension dollars invested in Japan and Europe. Persisting social issues- Wealth and Poverty, strong contrasts among communities and ethnicities, Black households income are 64% of the national average & Hispanic’s are 72% of the national average. Regional contrast- In U.S. the N.E. and West are the richest regions. In Canada it's Ontario and British Columbia. North American poverty rates have fallen, but problems still remain- jobs, education, health care chronic disease, aging, and gender gap. Remember test is tomorrow

posted by Anonymous @ 2/22/2006 11:55:00 AM