GEOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION:This year we intend to learn about various important aspects concerning the world we inhabit. Therefore, during the first term, we will analyze and we will think over the economic grounds of our society.

During the second term we will look into the economic inequalities around the world, the increasing impact of globalisation, and the migratory movements.

Finally, during the last term we will learn about political and social organisation of our society and the importance of the United Nations Organisation.

Try now to answer these questions, so you can check what you already know

about the world where you live.

Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers. By the end of this year you

will.

COPY THE QUESTIONS IN YOUR NOTEBOOK AND TRY TO ANSWER THEM:

A. When in history was mankind able to start producing a surplus?B. What is genetically modified food?C. What are alternative energies? Why do we need to promote its

development?D. What is the Tertiary economic activity? Give three examples.E. What are the most developed areas in the world? And the least

ones?F. What are the main reasons and consequences of human migration

nowadays?G. What is democracy? What is dictatorship? Can you give an example

of each one?H. How many countries are in the European Union? How many of them

use the Euro?I. Name the major religions of India, Thailand , Russia, Saudi Arabia

and Latin America.

THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES:

1. Human needs and economic goods.2. Active population and economic sectors3. Companies4. Job market and unemployment5. Systems and economic indicators6. Financial institutions and stock

WHAT IS ECONOMICS?

Economics is the science that studies the activities that people do to satisfy

their needs.

1. HUMAN NEEDS AND ECONOMIC GOODS:

ECONOMIC GOODS:

There are basic needs(food, a house, security, education...) and others that aren’t (entertainment, jewels, etc).There are economic goods that are material (a house, a car, clothes, food, etc.)

Other economic goods aren’t material like an English lesson, a consultation, etc. These are what we call SERVICES.

ECONOMIC GOODS

AIRSUN

ECONOMIC GOODS

LET’S TAKE A LOOK INTO THE PAST...

What kind of economies did people have through out history?

NOW TRY TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

• What do we understand as economy?• What kind of goods are these ones?

• Why was the Neolithic revolution so important?

2. WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC SECTORS:• Workforce is both the people that

work and do a remunerated activity (employed population), and those who are in disposition to work and are looking for a job (unemployed population).

• The economically inactive population includes all those who do not do a remunerated activity and are not in conditions to do it, or don’t have the intention neither.

The economically active population is divided into three main economic sectors:

Primary sector:Includes all those economic activities related to the extraction of goods and environmental resources.

Secondary sector:All those economic activities engaged in the transformation of primary sources into manufactured products. Nowadays, the industry is the most important activity in this sector, but it also includes others, such as: crafts, construction and energy production.

Tertiary sector:Embraces all economic activities related to services. It is therefore a very broad sector, which includes: trade, communication, transport, finances, tourism, health, education, public administration, etc.

The economically active population is divided into three main economic sectors:

Primary sector:Includes all those economic activities related to the extraction of goods and environmental resources.

Secondary sector:All those economic activities engaged in the transformation of primary sources into manufactured products. Nowadays, the industry is the most important activity in this sector, but it also includes others, such as: crafts, construction and energy production.

What kind of service do you think

this is?

DEVELOPMENT

• The distribution of the economically active population in the three different economic sectors, provides us significant information about the level of development of the societies.

Take a look into this table:

• Which countries do you think are developed countries?

• What economic sectors are the most important in the developed countries? Why do you think is like that?

• Which is the predominant sector in the undeveloped countries?

DEVELOPED COUNTRIES:• In general, in developed

countries the active population in the primary sector is scant, while the secondary and tertiary sectors employ the majority of the workforce.

• These countries stand out for the use of high technology. This technology enables them to achieve high productivity in the agricultural sector. Therefore they can focus their workforce in the two other economic sectors.

UNDEVELOPED COUNTRIES• The primary sector occupies the

majority of the active population in the undeveloped countries. In these countries, people work the land in a traditional way and due to this the productivity is very low. As a result they need a larger number of people working in this sector to be able to feed the whole population.

• Moreover, as they need more workforce in the primary sector, the secondary and tertiary can’t develop. This also means less capitals invested in I+D, and therefore less technology.

• Can you see a kind of pattern in this?

Let’s go back to our table!

What happens with China and Philippines? Can we consider them developed countries or not?

3. COMPANIES

• In our modern societies the company is the legal entity in charge of producing the goods and services that we consume.

• Moreover, nowadays everyone works on one or another type of company.

We can identify two types of companies

• Sole Trader: • Also known as proprietorship, is a

type of business entity which is owned and run by one individual.

• All profits and all losses accrue to the owner.

• Corporation:• The company is the result of the

union of a group of partners who share the ownership of the company in proportion to the invested capital.

The main types of corporation are:

The main types of corporation are:

The main types of corporation are:

• The companies we have described until now are all private ones, but among these companies there are those that are run by the State or the Administration.

• These companies are called “State Enterprise” and are owned and ruled by the State.

• Such companies are usually in basic services, energy and communication sectors, etc.

• Along with the above, we also have Public Private Partnership in which the company (Joint Venture) has both private and public capitals.

• Finally we have the multinationals:

• Multinationals are large corporations that have exceeded the limits of a state and have branches in several locations around the world.

• Such corporations have large capitals and make large investments in R and D (Research and Development) and publicity.

• Their products are sold around the world.• Most of such corporations are from

developed countries such as USA, Japan or European countries.

• However the headquarters are usually in western countries, their factories are usually found in those countries where the workforce is cheaper and taxes lower.

• Multinationals corporations usually focus on a specific sector (such as telecommunications, food industry, etc) which they control a large part of it on a global scale. Therefore, they have an enormous economic power which they use to influence many of the decisions taken by the governments.

4. JOB MARKET AND STOCK:

• Work is one of the main engines of the economy because we can’t understand the productions of goods without human labour.

• Moreover, work is recognized by law as a right and an obligation in our society.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

• Article 23.• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,

to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

• Article 24.• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable

limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS DECLARATION:

• Article 23.• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free

choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

• Article 24.• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure,

including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

A. What do you think about these

rights?

B. Do you think that they are

obeyed? If you do so, to what

extent?

JOB MARKET:• The existence of a job market

is one of the main features of capitalism. This job market consist of “Supply and Demand” for labour.

• The demand for labour comes mostly from the companies, that needs workforce to carry out their economic activities.

• Workers represent the supply for labour.

JOB MARKET • The job market is quite inflexible. With this we mean that it doesn’t make new jobs fast and unlimitedly.

• As a result, when supply and demand are not balanced, people suffer of unemployment.

• In order to avoid this, governments intervene in the job market to adjust it through laws and rules. However, unemployment is still nowadays one of the most important economic and social problem in all countries.

• Finally, the job market tends to an increasing specialization, particularly on those countries more developed and in those economic sectors that demand qualified employees. This results in an increasing competiveness in the job market.

UNEMPLOYMENT

• Nowadays unemployment mostly affects groups such as young people without working experience , people without studies, women and people over 45 years.

• We can get this information from the unemployment rate, which includes the percentage of the active population not working, the economic and social sectors where they come from, age, qualifications, experience, etc.

• Moreover, the unemployment rate gives us information about the evolution of the job market and ultimately of the economy.

5. SYSTEMS AND ECONOMIC INDICATORS

• In the contemporary world two main economic systems have been defined:

• The capitalist system or

market economy.• The socialist system or

centralized economy.

THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM

• In the capitalist system the state has very limited economic intervention.

• Therefore, the capitalist system is characterized by:

• the prominence of the free market, in which the laws of supply and demand regulate the production and the prices.

• The private ownership of the means of production.

• The pursue of the maximum benefit as the main reason for each and every economic activity.

THE SOCIALIST SYSTEM

• In the socialist system the state controls all the economic activities.

• Therefore the state:

• Owns all the means of production.

• Plans all the economic activities.

• Private property is abolished.• The state makes all the

important economic decisions

The Socialist and Capitalist Systems• After the Second World War

(1945) many countries from East Europe had a socialist economic system. Nowadays, however, this economic system is in crisis and many countries of the former socialist bloc have made a transition to a market economy.

• However, countries like China, Cuba, Vietnam or North Korea still have a socialist system, although they have opened some economic sectors to the market economy.

• Meanwhile, in the majority of the capitalist countries the state keeps an important economic role. It guarantees the private property, administers state companies, regulates the market, labour and social policies.

Economic and social indicators

• Economic indicators give us information about the situation and the future prospects of the economy of a country. Moreover, it lets us measure the standards of living of its inhabitants.

• Among other economic indicators we can mention: