| Supplementary
notes: At the opening of Chapter 2, Dicken mentions “core” and “periphery” and refers to an earlier figure (2.1). That figure is titled “The pre-global international division of labour,” and is a schematic of trade flows, with peripheral countries exporting raw materials to core countries and importing manufactured goods from core countries. This might also be called the colonial and neo-colonial division of labor, and the periphery is often called the “global South.” On page 42, Dicken notes that “Europe is the world’s biggest trading area.” Why should that make sense to you? However, note that the US-Canada exchange is the largest bilateral trade in the world. Why should that make sense to you? Why might that surprise you? |
| The mid/late 1970s are often
seen as a watershed, the end of the
“postwar” period and the beginning of something else. (What term
or phrase makes the most sense for you,
to characterize the changed way the world seems to operate since the
late 1970s?) How do the trends that Dicken presents – in
international
trade partners and patterns, in the sectoral shifts in what’s traded,
in the relationship between worldwide increases in manufactured output
and in exports of manufactures, in the amount and direction of FDI, and
in the distribution of economic activity within countries – manifest
these changes? |
| Here’s another way of asking the same question. I assert that we can see many changes in the world economy that started in the mid/late 1970s. I’m asking you whether and how all the evidence you can find in Dicken’s Chapter 2 supports that assertion, denies that assertion, or qualifies that assertion. |
| In Chapter 1, Dicken gives some suggestions why the economic world changed so much in the 1970s. What are these suggestions about the cause of these changes? |
| Characterize trade flows within
and to/from North America. |
| Who are the US’s major trading partners? How has that changed over time? From the Dicken chapter, what seem to be the chief US exports – have they changed over time? What seem to be the chief US imports – have they changed over time? |
| What roles do North America seem to play in the global trading system? Do you agree with the notion of a triad? Do you think the triad idea is more important in explaining intra-regional flows of trade and investment, or inter-regional flows? |
| At the subnational scale, how has the reduction of trade barriers within North America affected the geography of production? |
| Compare the experiences of East Asian countries (SE Asia, China, Japan, Korea), using the data and interpretations that Dicken provides regarding trade flows, trade partners, sectoral composition of trade, and inflows/outflows/stocks of FDI. Develop a categorization of 3-5 broadly different economic trajectories. |
| What is FDI? How does it differ from other types of international investment? What does it mean to say that FDI is a flow and a stock? What countries are the major sources of FDI flows? How has that been changing? Why? What countries are the major recipients of FDI flows? How has that been changing? Why? What are the major FDI partners (sources and destinations) for the US? |