The Characteristics and impacts of external forces such as government policy, TNCs or international and global insitutions CASE STUDIES

Question 1

What is Port Talbot

Answer 1

• Located in South Wales
• 15,000 workers depend directly on port talbot steelworks.
• The region grew into a important global hub for steel production during the ‘golden age’ of the british empire.
• By 1990 however only 2 large steelworks remained in south wales following global shift of steel to china and south korea.
• Ownership of the Port Talbot steelworks passed from British steel to the Indian TNC Tata Steel, following a £7 billion takeover.
• Although Port Talbot failed to meet tata steels profit expectations, as Chinese steel was dumped onto global markets at much cheaper prices, benefiting from low labour costs and government subsidies.
• In 2016 Port Talbot was losing £1 million a day.

Question 2

Impact of Port Talbot closure on place

Answer 2

• 1,000 jobs would be cut prioir to closure, and therefore 4,000 jobs were placed at risk and a further 11,000 in the local supply chain.
• Tata Steel blamed ‘unfairly traded’ cheap imported from china.

HOWEVER
- Tata Steel made a new five-year commitment to keep both of Port Talbot’s blast furnaces open until 2021.
- In return, the UK Government allowed the company to close an expensive and generous pension scheme for local workers. The UKs ageing population had turned this pension fund into a massive financial liability for Tata Steel. In the future, new workers will be given less generous pension benefits.

Question 3

Detriot Background

Answer 3

• In the 19th century, shipping and shipbuilding brought wealth to the city, it saw significant poppulation growth in the 18th century.
• Ford and General Motors used innovative production processes and brought manafactured new standardised consumer products to be sold across the US and be exported to the world.
• The economic decline of the late 20th century made to know as the ‘rust belt’.

Question 4

Detroit 1970s onwards

Answer 4

• International oil crisis meant that drivers prefered vehicales with greater fuel economy, competitors from Asia such as Honda, Nissan and Toyota produced more desirable models and Toyota suffered sales and profits.
• The response was cutting jobs and shutting down plants, unemployment rose.
• 2008 Toyota had become the leading global producer in the auto industry, and Detorit became the confirmed capital of the ‘rust belt’.

Question 5

Imapcts of the ‘rust belt’ in detroit

Answer 5

• Population had declined as of 25% in 2011, newspapers wrote ‘Homes selling for 1 dollar in detroit’.
• The unemployment rate in detorit was 14.4% in 2010
• Detroit, Michigan is the poorest city in the United States with a median income of $27,838.

Question 6

Deindustrialisation impacts on liverpool

Answer 6

• 2,000 businesses closed between 1978 and 1982.
• Textile, engineering and electrical firms were closed.
• 200,000 jobs were lost as a result.

Question 7

Deindustrialisation impacts on manchester

Answer 7

• Manafacturing still employed over half the workforce in 1959 and today it accounts for less than 1 in 5 jobs.
• 50,000 jobs were lost.