Global Winners and Losers

Question 1

What does air travel, global businesses and communication systems do?

Answer 1

Create global networks- they connect different places together, accelerating globalisation.

Question 2

What do global networks allow?

Answer 2

Trade, money, people and information to flow around the world, e.g air travel and tourism allow more people to travel to different countries, bringing money and information with them.

Question 3

What are switched on places?

Answer 3

These are the most highly connected countries, as well as the important cities in poorer countries.

Question 4

Why are switched on places global hubs?

Answer 4

Global networks flow through them- they’re well connected, trade, money, people and information flow easily between them and elsewhere.

Question 5

What is energy usage and consumerism like in switched on places?

Answer 5

Energy usage and ecological footprint are large because of high levels of production and consumption because of being well connected in services.

Question 6

What are switched off places?

Answer 6

These are the worst connected countries, as well as some remote places in more wealthy countries

Question 7

Give an example of a switched on place.

Answer 7

Singapore is an important port, financial centre and tourist destination.

Question 8

Give an example of a switched off place.

Answer 8

Bhutan is a landlocked country in the Himilayan mountains, where tourism and access to the internet are restricted.
The economy is based on agriculture, with little foreign influence.

Question 9

How does some money flow into switched off places?

Answer 9

Through aid.
Crops sold.
Usually they trade little and receive for what they do trade.

Question 10

What is energy usage and consumerism like in switched off places?

Answer 10

People aren’t significant producers or consumers because they’re not connected to global networks and aren’t a potential market for TNCs.
Energy usage and the ecological footprint are low.

Question 11

What is an interconnected place?

Answer 11

Have a roughly equal exchange in the flow of trade, money, people or information.
E.g the number of tourists visiting a country is equal to the number of citizens from that country that travel.

Question 12

When is one place dependent on another?

Answer 12

If there is unequal exchange in the flow of trade, money, people or information- more is coming in than going out, e.g lots of tourists visit a country, but few citizens of that country travel.

Question 13

What is the multiplier effect?

Answer 13

Helps connected places to grow in wealth- money spent in one place causes more money to be made in that place.
E.g more tourists visiting a town means more hotels and restaurants are needed, so more money is invested in the city and more local people are employed, spending their earnings in the city and so on.

Question 14

How has new technologies made the world interconnected?

Answer 14

Long distance telecommunications began when copper telegraph cables were laid across the Atlantic in 1866- now theres a global phone network linking all countries.
The internet allows people in offices that are far apart to work together at the same time.

Question 15

Who are the winners in a globalised world?

Answer 15

Countries that have useful resources that are in demand- this helps them connect to global networks, so they become switched on.

Question 16

Give an example of how physical factors have helped create global winners?

Answer 16

Saudi Arabia- oil rich country in the Middle East- petrodollar wealth.
Saudi Arabia has coasts on two sides so oil can be easily shipped out to other countries.
Saudi Arabia uses the money it makes from its comparative oil advantage to develop other parts of its economy.
This helps to increase its global connections and keep it switched on.

Question 17

Give an example of how human factors have helped create global winners?

Answer 17

China is NIC with a huge population of more than 1.3 billion.
Can provide lots of cheap but relatively skilled labour, e.g the manufacturing industry in China has grown rapidly because of investment from Chinese and foreign companies. Cheap skilled labour means costs are reduced and profits increased.

Question 18

What are global losers?

Answer 18

Countries that remain switched off from global networks. This can be because of difficult physical conditions or poor leadership leading to political isolation.

Question 19

Give an example of a global loser and why.

Answer 19

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in south east Africa that is cut off from global networks.
It has been politically isolated because of accusations of corruption and poor leadership.
This has led to economic sanctions from the EU and USA, reducing flow of trade.
Many airlines refuse to fly there- isolating further.

Question 20

Give an example of an odd winner.

Answer 20

Some areas are in difficult conditions, but are still switched on.
E.g Las Vegas is a city in the Nevada desert (USA), but is a global hub for tourism (and money) because gambling is legal there.

Question 21

Give an example of an odd loser.

Answer 21

Some places are rich in a natural resource but remain switched off. E.g Sierra Leone (West Africa) is rich in diamonds but hasn’t been able to generate much wealth from them due to civil war and government corruption.

Question 22

What are some consequences of being switched off from global networks?

Answer 22

Valuable resources may be wasted or left unused because there’s no investment to help trade in them.
Conflict, starvation and disease may make it less likely to that global connectivity will improve.
Switched on countries are more likely to work together, helping them progress faster. This means the gap between switched on and switched off places will only get wider.