GCSE Economics Key Issues 2015-2016

GCSE Economics

AQA Brief

Title: Local/UK/EU economic issues

‘Globalisation: the benefits and drawbacks from an economic viewpoint and ethical issues with the development of the world economy’.

Overview of Key Issue 1

This project will assess your skills to research, describe, analyse and evaluate the issues of globalisation on developed and developing countries. You should restrict your study to the past five years. You may use a variety of data (both statistical and non-statistical) in your research.

Aim of project

To understand globalisation and its impact on the developing and developed countries taking into consideration the ethical issues with the development of the world economy.

Initial Research and article reviews

The following links are articles, videos and audios related to globalisation. After viewing the videos and listening to the audios, you will need to summarise the main points discussed and include them in your project. For the articles, you will need to print them; summarise and include them as well. You may research for any other relevant articles and reviews.

· BBC World Service programme: ‘For Richer, For Poorer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/6656923.stm

· BBC 3-part documentary: ‘The New Rules of the Game’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/documentary_archive/4725554.stm

· The Guardian Newspaper collected resources: ‘Globalisation’

http://www.theguardian.com/world/globalisation

· Globalisation and tax havens: ‘Globalisation isn’t just about profits. It’s about taxes too’

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/27/globalisation-is-about-taxes-too

General Resources

· CIA World Factbook: www.cia.gov

· Bized virtual developing country: www.bized.co.uk/virtual/dc

· Institute of Development Studies: www.ids.ac.uk/team/globalisation

· George Monbiot: www.monbiot.com/category/globalisation

· TES teaching resources: www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resources/Lesson-1-Globalisation

· Economics and Business Education Association teaching resources: www.ebea.org.uk

· Tutor2u revision presentations and notes, blogs, quizzes etc: www.tutor2u.net

· Updated Trading Game: Investigating global trade - a simulation

http://www.tidec.org/sites/default/files/uploads/2c.52%20Investigating%20globalisation.pdf

Structure of Project

Issues for investigation / Amplification
1 / Definition(s) of globalisation / (1) Students should be able to give a suitable economic definition of globalisation.
· eg the process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of increased trade.
2 / Features of globalisation / (2) Students should be aware of the main features of globalisation,
· increased international trade,
· businesses operating in more than one country,
· greater dependence upon the global economy,
· free movement of goods, services, people and capital and
emergence of global brands such as McDonalds and Starbucks.
3 / Benefits of globalisation / (3 ) Students should be aware of the possible benefits of globalisation to both developed and developing countries
· inward investment by foreign businesses helping to provide new jobs, skills, infrastructure and money for education and healthcare
· increased market size, leading to economies of scale
· access to a greater, and potentially cheaper source of raw materials and labour for businesses
· a greater range of goods and services for consumers.
4 / Drawbacks of globalisation / (4 ) Students should be aware of the possible drawbacks of globalisation to both developed and developing countries
· no guarantee that the wealth from inward investment will benefit the local community, since profits may be sent back to where the business is based,
· multinational companies, with huge economies of scale, may drive local companies out of business,
· industry may thrive in developing countries at the expense of developed countries
· if it becomes cheaper to operate elsewhere, multinational companies may close their operations in developing countries, making people redundant.
5 / Ethical issues relating to
globalisation / (5) Students should be aware of the ethical issues relating to
globalisation
· that while globalisation is helping to create more wealth in developing countries, it is not helping to close the gap between the world’s richest and poorest countries,
· globalisation may threaten global cultural diversity and damage local economies, traditions and languages
· an absence of strictly enforced laws may mean that multinational companies pollute the environment or exploit the workforce in developing countries or avoid paying taxation.

Assessment

Read the following extract and answer the questions:

Extract 1

Who, What, Why: In which countries is Coca-Cola not sold?

After almost 60 years, Coca-Cola is on sale again in Burma. It's one of the world's most recognised brands, so are there any countries where the drinks giant still remains unsold? Coca-Cola says it sells 1.8 billion servings of the drink every day. But for the last six decades, none has been in Burma. That's because of US trade sanctions on the military junta which ruled the country from 1962 to 2011.

Coca-Cola's rival PepsiCo has also announced plans to resume sales in Burma. But not all countries have embraced the American-ness that seems to be embodied by Coca-Cola. In 2003, protesters in Thailand poured Coca-Cola onto the streets as a demonstration against the US-led invasion of Iraq, and sales were temporarily suspended, says Standage.

But 126 years after its birth, Coca-Cola is still pushing forward in terms of sales, with strong growth - especially, it says, in the emerging markets of India, China and Brazil.

1. State and explain two features of globalisation for Coca-Cola. (6 marks)

2. Explain two drawbacks of globalisation by organisations such as Coca-Cola on developing countries such as Burma (6 marks).

Globalisation is always beneficial. Discuss. (12 marks)