Global systems Flashcards
What is the role of the WTO? + Aims
Responsible for facilitating international trade:
- supervise trade by reducing barriers
- sorting out trade problems between governments
What are the criticisms of the WTO?
- Focuses mainly on multinational corporations
- Fails to reduce tariffs on agriculture
- Ignore environmental concerns
Describe examples of WTO involvement
- Lowered trade barriers and increased trade between members
- Conducts conflict neutral resolution
What is the role of the IMF?
Provide financial support to countries who are in economic despair
What are the criticisms of the IMF?
- Impose severe cuts on education and welfare spending in developing countries
- High interest rates on loans
What is the role of the World Bank?
Provides financing, advice and research to developing countries to aid their economic development
What are the criticisms of the World Bank?
- Funding ‘top down’ projects (e.g. large dams) which have not helped to reduce poverty
- Evaluate health problems by looking at economic outputs
What is the role of the IPCC?
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
Assess present and future risks and forward adaptation and mitigation options
What are the criticisms of the IPCC?
- Led by powerful nations who influence change for their own advantage; leading to increased inequality and conflict
Summarise the Doha development agenda
Focuses on increasing foreign trade of agricultural products to advanced developing countries
What were the aims of the Doha development agenda:?
- Tariffs reduced by 30%
- Increased trade for developing countries
- Fairer prices for farms in emerging economies
What were the problems with the Doha development agenda?
- USA, EU and Japan wanted the trading nations of developing countries (e.g Brazil, China) to open their markets to Western goods
- USA and EU insisted on larger cuts in farm subsidies to protect their farmers
What are bottom-up strategies?
Decisions made with the benefit of the local community in mind; projects suited to meet their needs
What are top-down strategies?
Decision to undertake projects in made by the authorities, without consulting the local people it would affect
What is outsourcing?
Companies arrange for goods/services to be produced/provided by other companies, usually at a cheaper location
What are the positive effects of outsourcing?
- Provide jobs and investment
What are the negative effects of outsourcing?
- Loss of jobs
- If one large employer is outsourced, means less spending in the local economy, services will close down etc. (de-multiplier effect)
- Deindustrialization of the economy
- Structural unemployment
Define deindustrialization of the economy:
Closure of manufacturing companies and outsourcing eventually leads to the closure of local suppliers