Chapter 40

The “Global” Economy 20 th -21 st Century phenomenon New economic order since fall of Communism has been based on global trade, global investing, deregulation of business, largely based on technology of the 21 st century

Economic Globalization International Monetary Fund – IMF World Trade Organization – WTO

Economic Miracles of the 20 th Century Japan – Direct U.S. aid; big push for capitalist giant in the Pacific has made the country very successful since WWII –Good labor source –Economy tied to electronics, automobiles –Economy has slowed since early 1990s –Successful imitators of Japan’s “miracle” are the four little tigers – South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan (few natural resources, but big labor force focused on exports) –Competition forced China to accept foreign trade & investments since their disastrous results from hard- line Communism in the 1970s (China became WTO member in 2001)

Trading Blocs Groups of nations who join together to take advantage of the marketplace –European Union (EU) – common currency, the Euro –North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – US, Canada, Mexico –Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – cartel that controls much of the worlds’ oil production

Cross Cultural Exchanges in the 20 th and 21 st Centuries Globalization of commercial products with awareness of local cultures –Global Barbie –Vegetarian items on Indian McDonalds menu –World is still dominated by American culture McDonalds Tikki Burger in India Iranian “Sara” (Barbie) with hijab headscarf

Technology/Mass Communication 20 th century innovations like the radio, telegraph, telephone, TV, fax machine, satellite dishes, the Internet New form of “cultural” imperialism – domination of Western values, English language, into the rest of the world? –Hollywood movies, US television industry, those with access to technology are more apt to spread it to other areas

McDonalds in India

Other issues of the 20 th /21 st centuries Rising population rates (esp. in India, China, Latin America) AIDS crisis (esp. in Africa, elsewhere) along with falling fertility rate have slowed growth Global Warming/pollution (Kyoto Agreement – 1997) Child labor Human Trafficking Global Terrorism