Part II of Rivoli

a) The textile industry has had various locations throughout history. From Great Britain to the Far East, textiles have rewarded many different locations. The changes in locale of the textile industry show something about the global economy. Nothing is fixed. If it was, textiles would never have left the shops in England, there is always going to be someone willing to manufacture the same goods at a lower cost. That fact is enough to shift markets and manufacturing hot spots as with textiles, they went east for cheaper production costs.
b) Postive: Industrialization provides a source of income for many people. It is able to provide jobs. "In 1980, the industry's peak employment year, nearly 400,00 people were employed in Hong Kong's textile and apparel industries."
Negative: Industrialization can also take jobs away. As more and more countries become industrialized more and more people need jobs and recently industrialized nations are able to provide cheaper labor than established ones. Companies realize this and relocate to the cheaper countries taking jobs away from the established workers.
c) "Globalization's skeptics are quick to point out that even if the conditions in apparel factories are a step up from those on the farm, it does not follow that workers in developing countries should simply accept their fate, working day and night in poor conditions, for pitiful wages and with limited rights. While free trade advocates may wish to isolate the activists as an uniformed fringe element, research shows that most Americans have reservations about the slippery slope in the race to the bottom of the working conditions in overseas apparel factories." pg 120

-I thought this quote was interesting because it is a very sensitive issue in today's world. Yes the working conditions might be poor but are they still better off than they wold be without the jobs? It is a very difficult question to answer and the correct response might never be truly understood.

The World is Spiky

a) Richard Florida does not believe in the flat-world theory of globalization. He sees the world as spiky, filled with economic mountains and valleys.The largest and richest cities in the world, especially in the United States, account for the large majority of the world's economy. As human society continues, these "mountainous" cities continue to grow while the valleys they create continue to deepen. He sees globalization as a fact, just not in the flat manner that has become globally accepted.
b) The idea of a spiky world is almost identical to the Central Place Theory. Both involve people going to large population centers to do their business which is why larger cities would have higher mountains represented on Florida's maps.
c) My study abroad plans involve going to Bonn, Germany. Bonn would most likely be considered a regional metropolis. It has an international airport and a population of about 324,000 people. But it is also smaller than the nearby Cologne which would be considered a larger regional metropolis. The closest nearby national metropolis would be Berlin. Some smaller nearby cities are Aachen and Leverkusen.

Details of Germany

1. Water Transportation
1. The largest ocean port in Germany is the port in Wilhelmshaven. It is the only one that can handle the largest ocean tankers on the modern ocean.
2. The largest port overall in Germany is the port of Hamsburg which is located on the River Elbe. It is the second largest port in all of Europe. Other ports are also located in Bremen and Bremerhaven.
2. Land Transportation
1. Germany has 40,826 km of railroads within its borders. It has adopted the standard gauge for easier transport between neighboring countries.
2. For passenger transport, trains stop in almost every village regularly. They are also very reliable and are private companies with all shares being owned by the government.
3. Germany has 65 cars per 100 people and over 650,000 km of roads. Germans traveled 2 trillion km in their cars in 2005 which was by the most common method of travel.
3. Air transportation
1. The two major international airports in Germany are the Frankfurt International Airport and the Munich Airport and are major international hubs in Europe.
2. Some other major airports are Berlin Tegel, Berlin Shonefeld, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, Leipzig/Halle.

The Box

1. I thought the part about how WWII created high demand while also lowering the amount of economic competition. I found it interesting to know more about how far the effects of war an reach into other sectors of the world, especially on the economic side.
2. I think the author sees the container as being essential to the globalization of the world economy. Its versatility has allowed more goods to be shipped to more places more efficiently. The sheer effect it has had on shipping has created a more unified product dispersion that has helped connect all the corners of the globe.
3. In the short run, the shipping container has increased both imports and exports so that effect would be negated. But the increased amounts of both would cause an increase in consumption which would in turn drive up the GDP.  In the long run it would probably drive up he GDP due to the increased global trade which is essential for increasing the GDPs of countries around the world.

T-Shirt Part 1

1. The main thing that separates the cotton trade as represented in part 1 of Rivoli is the prevalence of subsidies in the American cotton industry. In a pure market system, the cotton growers would be left to fend for themselves and only the greatest growers would succeed. The subsidies give the growers a boost to produce more goods which is in clear violation of the true market philosophy.
2. One example of culture clashing with economics was Ned Cobb's reluctance to transition from mules to tractors in his cotton production. He had only ever known the use mules and had become emotionally attached. Him not transitioning to tractors lowered the potential output of his cotton fields.
3. It was very surprising to me how important the American cotton industry was. I knew that Americans grew cotton but I didn't know that it was to the extent that it is. I assumed that the cotton in my t-shirts was grown somewhere overseas and it was almost shocking to me that it probably came from a fellow American.

In Germany, some reject role as financial rescuer

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-germany-some-reject-role-as-financial-rescuer/2012/04/02/gIQAAbBhsS_story.html

1. For the last 20 years, since the reunification of East and West Germany, western Germany has funneled $2 trillion dollars worth of aid to the former communist state. East Germany had been a communist state that was left in poverty when the Soviets collapsed. Despite the aid, the east has still trailed far behind the west with an unemployment rate twice that of the west. The lack of success is causing many west Germans to call for an end to the aid that is scheduled to carry on through 2019.  Now the rest of Europe is facing a similar problem with the financial collapse of Greece. Many pundits are calling for German aid due to their strong economy, but with their own problems they seem to be unwilling to lend their aid to the struggling parts of the continent.
2. A few classes ago we talked about the subsidies that the US government has been giving to its cotton farmers. This is similar to the aid that west Germany has been giving to eastern Germany. Except that the US subsidies have been more successful than the German aid.
3. I think that he aid would be better spent on worker training than improving the infrastructure. Infrastructure improvements have not been working for the past 20 years. So the change should be more toward labor improvement over roads and buildings..

The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits

1. Friedman's main points are that businesses should not be the ones that have to worry about social issues. They exist for the purpose of making money and when they worry about social issues then they tend to do the opposite. He also believes that social responsibility falls upon the individual, if they want to devote their time and resources to social issues, then that's their prerogative, but they shouldn't use the resources of their company and shareholders to accomplish that.
2. Some of the cultural values that are most important to Friedman are individualism, hierarchy, monochronic time, a median between meritocracy and ascription, a median between activity and people, tradition, a median between formality and informality, personal efficacy, and directness.
3. I am able to see a conflict between business and social responsibility. Attaching to any social issue has the capability to alienate some customers and employees of businesses from the company due to disagreeing beliefs. On the other hand though it could possible endear more customers who like the decision. But I believe that the best decision for businesses would be to focus on profit and not on fixing social issues, if they focus more on profit they can pay employees more who can decide what to do with their social consciousness. 

Musings of Rick Schweder

1. Key Points and Themes
1. The world has become more globalized since the fall of the Berlin wall and the countries that were trapped behind the iron curtain have adopted cultures more similar to the western ones of Atlantic Europe and the United States.
2. Shweder is a "confusionist" and believes that the knowable world will always be incomplete and there will always be an incoherence related to the knowledge of all the world's cultures.
3.  It used to be that trade could be done without caring about the culture of the trading partners where as nowadays countries are always trying to impress their beliefs onto their less cultured business partners.
2. Indicators of Global Change
1. A good indicator of the direction of global change is the number of trade partners and the amount of overall trade being done. This is because if countries are trading goods then they are probably trading cultural ideas and increased amounts of trade will lead to greater global, cultural change.
3. Cultural Shaping of Economic Outcomes
1. I believe that culture is very important in shaping economic outcomes. Some cultures preach isolationism and others encourage international interaction. Professor Shweder mentioned on good example of this. China had been one of the leading technological powers, but in the 15th century they withdrew from the world of global trade and when they rejoined in the 20th century they had fallen far behind the developed world. China's isolationist culture directly effected the economy of their country.

More About Germany

1. Resources
1. Germany does not have an abundant source of natural resources. The two most prevalent natural resources in Germany are natural gas and coal. Germany produces 12.65 cubic meters of natural gas per year and is 36th in the world in that category. 
2. Germany has a labor force of 43.54 million people. They are spread across the industries in the manner of, 1.6% agriculture, 24.6% industry, and 73.8% service.
3. Some capital held by Germany is arable land. 33.13% of the country is arable land. They also have an abundance of electrical equipment and a large amount of financial capital.
2. International Trade
1. Germany exports $1.408 trillion worth of goods each year. Their primary exports are motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, metals, transport equipment, foodstuff, textiles, rubber, and plastic products.  Their main receivers of exports are France (9.4%), the United States (6.8%), Netherlands (6.6%), the United Kingdom (6.2%), Italy (6.2%), China (5.7%), Austria (5.5%), Belgium (4.7%), and Switzerland (4.4%).
2. Germany imports $1.198 trillion worth of goods each year. The main things imported are machinery, data processing equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, electric equipment, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, and agricultural products. Their major partners are China (9.7%), Netherlands (8.4%), France (7.6%), the United States (7.6%), Italy (5.7%), the United Kingdom (4.7%), Belgium (4.2%), Austria (4.1%), and Switzerland (4.1%).
3. The currency used in Germany is the euro and the most recent exchange rate or 2011 was 0.7107   Euros per American dollar.
3. National Income Accounts
1. Consumption makes up 37.6% of the GDP
2. Investment makes up 18.8% of the GDP.
3. The government makes up 43.6% of the GDP