NUER
The Nuer are a group of people living around Lake No in Southern Sudan. Their economy and social life generally revolve around cattle, which are grazed on the plains during the dry season and in the hills during the wet season. During the dry season, the Nuer also fish, hunt, and gather wild plant foods. At their initiation, boys receive six horizontal cuts in the forehead and are given cattle; thereafter they belong to an age grade, with whom they will advance into various positions within the clan over the period of their lives. Descent is patrilineal or follows the father’s family. When a man marries he receives more cattle from his father. There is no centralized political authority, but rather a number of autonomous village communities. Spiritual leaders, known as leopard skin chiefs, are employed in the mediation of disputes.
The alternating flood and drought seasons make it impossible for the Nuer to live in one location year-round. Floods send the Nuer herds to higher ground; droughts force them down. During the rainy season cattle must be moved to protected ground, because standing in sodden land quickly results in hoof disease. As they move Nuer seek both pastureland and drink water, and drive their cattle to locations where they know both will be available. Their movement is aimed toward the most luscious pastures and when the rainy season begins the Nuer can return back to their villages.
Cuba's Economy
Cuba has a dual economy, with two distinct systems operating side by side. The command economy applies to most Cubans, providing them with free education, free health care, universal employment, unemployment compensation, disability and retirement benefits and the basis necessities of life: food, housing, utilities and some entertainment at very low cost. A capitalisteconomy operates in the tourist, international and export sectors, and substantially sustains the command economy.
The Cuban Government continues to adhere to socialist principles in organizing its state-controlled economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and, according to Cuban Government statistics, about 75% of the labor force is employed by the state. The actual figure is closer to 90%, with the only private employment consisting of some 200,000 private farmers and some 100,000 private business owners.
Samoa
American Samoa is a group of six Polynesian islands in the South Pacific. Fourteen degrees below the equator, it is the United States' southern-most territory. It is known as the heart of Polynesia. If you drew a triangle from Hawaii, New Zealand and Tahiti you would find Samoa in the middle. Western Samoa is a neighboring independent country that shares the same culture. American Samoa became an unorganized U.S. territory in 1900. The Samoas arguably represent the largest population of Polynesian people and they take pride in a strong culture that has survived outside influence amazingly well.
The economy of Samoa has traditionally been dependent on development aid, family remittances from overseas, and agriculture and fishing. The country is vulnerable to devastating storms. Agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force, and furnishes 90% of exports, featuring coconut cream, coconut oil, and copra. The manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. The decline of fish stocks in the area is a continuing problem. Tourism is an expanding sector, accounting for 25% of GDP; about 88,000 tourists visited the islands in 2001. The Samoan Government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline, meantime protecting the environment. Observers point to the flexibility of the labor market as a basic strength for future economic advances. Foreign reserves are in a relatively healthy state, the external debt is stable, and inflation is low.
Economy of North Korea
North Korea's slowing economy and the breakdown of trade relations with the countries of the former socialist countries – in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union - have confronted Pyongyang with difficult policy choices. Despite its recent moves toward limited economic opening, North Korea has thus far avoided making any fundamental changes. Its government leadership seems determined to maintain tight political and ideological control.
About 80% of North Korea's terrain consists of moderately high mountain ranges and partially forested mountains and hills separated by deep, narrow valleys and small, cultivated plains. The most rugged areas are the north and east coasts. Good harbors are found on the eastern coast. Pyongyang, the capital, near the country's west coast, is located on the TaedongRiver.
Although most North Korean citizens live in cities and work in factories, agriculture remains a rather high 25% of total GNP, although output has not recovered to the levels of the early 1990s. While trade with the South has expanded since 1988, no physical links between the two remain, and the infrastructure of the North is generally poor and outdated.
North Korea suffers from chronic food shortages, which free market economists attribute to forced collective farming; these shortages were exacerbated by record floods in the summer of 1995 and continued shortages of fertilizer and parts. In response to international appeals, the US provided 500,000 tons of humanitarian food aid in the period July 1999-June 2000 through the UN World Food Program and through US private voluntary organizations.
United States of America
The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top.
Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. The years 1994-2000 witnessed solid increases in real output, low inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment to below 5%. The year 2001 saw the end of boom psychology and performance, with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business failures rising substantially. The response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 showed the remarkable resilience of the economy. The war in March/April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq shifted resources to the military. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income.
GERMANY
Despite great damage to both East and West Germany during World War II, both countries had emerged as potent economies by the 1960s. Germany is the third most powerful economy in the world. West Germany became a leading economic world power in the 1970s and 1980s, and East Germany was a leader among Warsaw Pact economies. Reunification has been a shock to the economy of both nations. The West has had to shoulder high taxes to fund improvements in infrastructure, environment, and industry in the East, while many eastern enterprises have collapsed in the face of western competition. There is a continuing tendency for German companies to set up manufacturing operations abroad, mainly to avoid high production costs at home. Still, Germany remains a powerhouse in the world economy and has one of the highest standards of living in the world.
Agriculture plays a minor role in the German economy, and the country imports about one third of its food. The nation’s principal crops are sugar beet, potatoes, barley, wheat, oats, and rye. Germany is also a major wine producer. Farmers raise cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry. Germany has substantial forestry and fishing industries. The mining industry plays a comparatively small role in the German economy. Several minerals, however, are produced in sizeable quantities. Germany is the world’s leading producer of lignite, a low-grade brown coal. The economy ofGermany is dominated by the manufacturing sector, which produces a great variety of technologically advanced goods, and employs almost 25 per cent of the workforce.
Tuareg
Tuareg is a term used to identify numerous diverse groups of people who share a common language and a common history. Tuareg camel caravans played the primary role in trans-Saharan trade until the mid-20th century when European trains and trucks took over. Goods that once were brought north to the edge of the Sahara are now taken to the coast by train and then shipped to Europe and beyond. Many groups have slowly moved southward over the last 2,000 years in response to pressures from the north and the promise of a more prosperous land in the south. Today, many Tuareg live in inactive communities in the cities bordering the Sahara that once were the great centers of trade for western Africa. Although most Tuareg now practice some degree of Islam, they are not considered Arabic.
For thousands of years, Tuareg economy revolved around trans-Saharan trade. There are basically five trade routes which extend across the Sahara from the northern Mediterranean coast of Africa to the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara. Tuareg merchants were responsible for bringing goods from these cities to the north. From there they were distributed throughout the world. Because of the nature of transport and the limited space available in caravans, Tuareg usually traded in luxury items, things which took up little space and on which a large profit could be made. Tuareg were also responsible for bringing enslaved people north from West Africa to be sold to Europeans and Middle Easterners. Many Tuareg settled into the communities, with which they traded, serving as local merchants and representatives for their friends and family who continued to trade.