The textile industry in the world went from the United Kingdom to the United States, then to Japan, to Southeast Asian countries such as South Korea and Hong Kong, and finally to China. All in all, the locations of the textile factories always move to the countries where the labors are the cheapest. This demonstrates that given perfect mobility between countries, industries generally flow to the countries where the major inputs are abundant and cheap.
Industrialization has provided people a better living standard through higher productivity. With lower production costs and subsequently lower prices, goods are more affordable for most people. Also, jobs in the urban areas are generated. As a result, people living in the rural countrysides are able to move to the urban area, land a job and earn a living. For most of the young girls living in rural areas of China described in the book, this is one of their few opportunities to live a different life from their parents and grandparents. However, industrialization also brings in the problem of poor working and living condition, as a consequence of the race to the bottom. Many firms remain competitive in the market by urging workers to work long hour and allowing few breaks, as is demonstrated by the sweatshop stories from China, where "young women are forced to work seven days a week, 12 hours a day, earning as little as 12 to 18 cents an hour". This inhumanely severe working condition has called general attention as to the well-being of the workers. Viewing both the positive and negative sides of industrialization, I am convinced that industrialization is beneficial to the society in general, since it improves the total productivity and thus people's living standard. Yet, it requires a stronger regulation from the government as to the labor's rights. This can be achieved by formulating stricter regulation or by providing incentives for firms.
The most informative part that I have found in Part II of Rivoli's book is The Unwitting Conspiracy, where the author argues that industrialization, while providing poor working and living conditions for the workers, has given rise to people's awareness of work safety and labor's rights. Additionally, it is industrialization that has brought the environment issues into public attention. Meanwhile, winners of the globalization, that is, wealthy people, demand a cleaner environment; this leads to efforts of protecting the environment. I found this highly interesting since labor activists and environmentalists are generally considered to be indignant protestors against production pollution. The argument that the inter-reaction between producers and protestors has provided working classes better working place reveals that no progress in human history is made by a sole force. It is always joint efforts that fuel the development of human history. Further, industrialization cannot be deemed as absolutely virtuous or vicious. This is an innovative yet more objective way to view the history of economic development, which I find highly educative and inspiring.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Response to "The World is Spiky"
Original Article: http://creativeclass.com/rfcgdb/articles/other-2005-The%20World%20is%20Spiky.pdf.
The author believes that while globalization has increased the returns to innovation, which is the engine for economic development, through allowing innovative products and services to quickly reach consumers worldwide, it has increased the spikiness of wealth and economic production. Thus, although the world's economic peak-regions are slightly more dispersed now, the disparity between the rich and poor regions has also grown larger.
This view illustrates the Central Place Theory. In major cities with highly advanced economy, there exist more abundant resources, and so more innovative ideas and products are generated. Additionally, a highly specialized region reduces production costs for producers through the economies of scale. Consumers also benefit through a wider selection of products, lower prices as a result of competition and lower transportation cost. This further enhances the economic activities of these highly developed regions, making the disparity between wealthy and poor regions more significantly. As a result, the author's conclusion in the article is reached, that the spikiness of the world's wealth distribution grows.
My study abroad city, London, lies on the top of the hierarchy of central places, the National Metropolis. Southampton, 76.3 miles aways from London, will be a Regional Metropolis. A Regional City will be Brighton, 52.4 miles away. Oxford which is 60 miles drive, is a small city. Dartford with a distance of 18.8 miles will be a town. Kidlington in Oxfordshire, 60 miles away from London, is a village. Dulwich will be a good representative of Hamlet near London, which is 7 miles away.
The author believes that while globalization has increased the returns to innovation, which is the engine for economic development, through allowing innovative products and services to quickly reach consumers worldwide, it has increased the spikiness of wealth and economic production. Thus, although the world's economic peak-regions are slightly more dispersed now, the disparity between the rich and poor regions has also grown larger.
This view illustrates the Central Place Theory. In major cities with highly advanced economy, there exist more abundant resources, and so more innovative ideas and products are generated. Additionally, a highly specialized region reduces production costs for producers through the economies of scale. Consumers also benefit through a wider selection of products, lower prices as a result of competition and lower transportation cost. This further enhances the economic activities of these highly developed regions, making the disparity between wealthy and poor regions more significantly. As a result, the author's conclusion in the article is reached, that the spikiness of the world's wealth distribution grows.
My study abroad city, London, lies on the top of the hierarchy of central places, the National Metropolis. Southampton, 76.3 miles aways from London, will be a Regional Metropolis. A Regional City will be Brighton, 52.4 miles away. Oxford which is 60 miles drive, is a small city. Dartford with a distance of 18.8 miles will be a town. Kidlington in Oxfordshire, 60 miles away from London, is a village. Dulwich will be a good representative of Hamlet near London, which is 7 miles away.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Transportation in the United Kingdom
1, Water Transportation
a. Closest major ocean ports that are Post Panamax capable
- Southampton, English Channel (post-Panamax, traditional liner port)
- Felixstowe, North Sea (post-Panamax, 35% of UK container traffic)
- Liverpool, Irish Sea (new post-Panamax container terminal expansion planned. Accommodates cruise ships of 345 m in length and 10 m draught)
b, Other ports in country
- Teesport, Middlesbrough, North Sea
- Port of Tyne, Newcastle, North Sea
- Barrow, Irish Sea
- Port Talbot, Irish Sea
- Milford Haven, Irish Sea
- Invergordon, Moray Firth
- Hunterston Terminal, Firth of Clyde
- Hound point, Firth of Forth
2, Land Transportation
a, Railroad (Freight)
There are four main freight operating companies in the UK, the largest of which is DB Schenker. There are also several smaller independent operators including Mendip Rail. Types of freight carried include intermodal, coal, metals, oil and construction material. Statistics on freight are specified in terms of the weight of freight lifted, and the net tone kilometer, being freight weight multiplied by distance carried. As of 2011, rail freight occupies an 11.5% market share for surface freight transport in the UK.
Since 1995 the amount of freight carried on the railways has increased sharply. The railways have become more reliable, and economical. By the year 2015 rail-borne intermodal traffic scheduled to double, and by 2030 the whole of rail freight is expected to double.
b, Railroad (Passenger)
- Cross Country Route: Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, York
- East Coast Main Line: London, Leeds, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh
- Great Eastern Main Line: London, Ipswich, Norwich
- Great Western Main Line: London, Bristol, Cardiff
- High Speed 1: London, Channel Tunnel
- Midland Main Line: London, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds
- West Coast Main Line: London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow
c, Highway and Road Network
- A1 Road (Great Britain): connects London and Edinburgh
- A1 Road (Northern Ireland): from Belfast via Lisburn and Banbridge to the border with the Republic of Ireland
- M1 Motorway (Great Britain): connects London to Leeds, joins A1(M) near Aberford
- M1 Motorway (Northern Ireland): from Belfast to Dungannon through County Down and County Armagh
3, Air Transportation
a, International Airports
- Aberdeen Airport
- Birmingham Airport
- Belfast City Airport
- Belfast International Airport
- Blackpool Airport
- Bournemouth Airport
- Bristol Airport
- Cardiff Airport
- Coventry Airport
- Doncaster Airport
- Durham Teeside Airport
- East Midlands Airport
- Edinburgh Airport
- Gatwick Airport
- Exeter Airport
- Heathrow Airport
- Glasgow Airport
- Leed Bradford Airport
- Humberside Airport
- London City Airport
- Liverpool Airport
- Manchester Airport
- Luton Airport
- Newquay Airport
- Newcastle Airport
- Norwich Airport
- Prestwick Airpot
- Southampton Airport
- Stansted Airport
b, Other Airports
A complete list of all airport in the United Kingdom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_the_United_Kingdom_and_the_British_Crown_Dependencies
[edit]
Friday, April 20, 2012
Response to "The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger"
Original Article: http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s9383.html
The most interesting point that I found in Marc Levinson's Chapter One is his argument that one of containerization's biggest contributions is to save time. Because of the quicker handling and shorter storage time, products are transited much faster from manufacturers to customers. Thus, manufacturers' inventories are reduced significantly, leading to more efficient use of capitals. Additionally, containerization also gives rise to the possibility of developing just-in-time manufacturing that answers consumers' design needs specifically. This advantage of containerization and the subsequent low transportation costs is a whole new idea for me. I have always thought of low transportation cost as beneficial to promoting international trade by reducing costs for suppliers. Yet, it is quite brilliant to associate the development in manufacturing process to containerization, which can be regarded as an invention and thus should have the equal effect to intrigue new manufacturing model. I am truly impressed with this interpretation of the advantage of containerization and it opens my mind to view things in a broader sense.
The author believes that shipping containers make it possible and affordable for suppliers to sell their products half way across the world and consumers to demand goods from other countries, since the cost of shipping products has significantly reduced. Additionally, containerization makes it possible to transport inputs or intermediary good between countries, so manufacturers have the options to purchase inputs with lower price from foreign countries or to ship the intermediary goods to countries with lower cost to finish the manufacturing process. This process makes it more likely that wage rates across the globe are equal. What is more, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, by reducing shipping time and inventory cost, manufacturers also have the option of just-in-time manufacturing and answers consumers' needs specifically. All these factors combined contribute to the increasingly important globalization.
By reducing transportation cost, this innovation increases a country's export of goods in which it has a comparative advantage. Meanwhile, it will increases a country's import of goods in whose production it is less productive. So both exports and imports will rise, leaving little change to net export. Additionally, business will invest in building equipments to adjust to shipping container, so business will increase investment. Thus, all in all, National Income will increase. Correspondingly, as export increases, the labor demanded in the export industry will increase. Yet, import also increases at the same time, so the labor demanded in the import competing industry will decrease. Also, given the higher efficiency in the manufacturing process and the broader use of machines and computers, fewer labors will be demanded in the shipping process. Thus, employment is expected to decline.
In the extended Ricardian Model in international trade, transportation cost is borne by the consumers and thus added to the unit labor requirement, the units of labor hour required to produce one unit of good. That is, the higher the transportation cost, the higher the unit labor requirement and the lower the productivity. As transportation cost gets lower as a result of the containerization, the country's productivity is increased, relatively raising the capital resources of the country. Therefore, the country's national income will increase in the long run.
The most interesting point that I found in Marc Levinson's Chapter One is his argument that one of containerization's biggest contributions is to save time. Because of the quicker handling and shorter storage time, products are transited much faster from manufacturers to customers. Thus, manufacturers' inventories are reduced significantly, leading to more efficient use of capitals. Additionally, containerization also gives rise to the possibility of developing just-in-time manufacturing that answers consumers' design needs specifically. This advantage of containerization and the subsequent low transportation costs is a whole new idea for me. I have always thought of low transportation cost as beneficial to promoting international trade by reducing costs for suppliers. Yet, it is quite brilliant to associate the development in manufacturing process to containerization, which can be regarded as an invention and thus should have the equal effect to intrigue new manufacturing model. I am truly impressed with this interpretation of the advantage of containerization and it opens my mind to view things in a broader sense.
The author believes that shipping containers make it possible and affordable for suppliers to sell their products half way across the world and consumers to demand goods from other countries, since the cost of shipping products has significantly reduced. Additionally, containerization makes it possible to transport inputs or intermediary good between countries, so manufacturers have the options to purchase inputs with lower price from foreign countries or to ship the intermediary goods to countries with lower cost to finish the manufacturing process. This process makes it more likely that wage rates across the globe are equal. What is more, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, by reducing shipping time and inventory cost, manufacturers also have the option of just-in-time manufacturing and answers consumers' needs specifically. All these factors combined contribute to the increasingly important globalization.
By reducing transportation cost, this innovation increases a country's export of goods in which it has a comparative advantage. Meanwhile, it will increases a country's import of goods in whose production it is less productive. So both exports and imports will rise, leaving little change to net export. Additionally, business will invest in building equipments to adjust to shipping container, so business will increase investment. Thus, all in all, National Income will increase. Correspondingly, as export increases, the labor demanded in the export industry will increase. Yet, import also increases at the same time, so the labor demanded in the import competing industry will decrease. Also, given the higher efficiency in the manufacturing process and the broader use of machines and computers, fewer labors will be demanded in the shipping process. Thus, employment is expected to decline.
In the extended Ricardian Model in international trade, transportation cost is borne by the consumers and thus added to the unit labor requirement, the units of labor hour required to produce one unit of good. That is, the higher the transportation cost, the higher the unit labor requirement and the lower the productivity. As transportation cost gets lower as a result of the containerization, the country's productivity is increased, relatively raising the capital resources of the country. Therefore, the country's national income will increase in the long run.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Summary on Part I of Rivoli's Book
Compared with an idealized, pure market theory, the American cotton market that Rivoli discussed in his book is protected from competition. Unlike in a perfectly competitive market, the US cotton producers are guaranteed the supply of labors at a reasonable wage rate, despite the market supply and demand for labor, especially during harvest period when the market demand for labor peaks. Also, the US cotton producers are protected from a multiple of market risks with government subsidies that ordinary cotton farmers face in other countries. As a result, the US are able to preserve a dominance in the world cotton market with high comparative advantage.
Rivoli distinctly denotes that many American farmers demonstrate remarkable adaptability and entrepreneurial spirits, as opposed to the tradition-bounded farmers in poor countries. He specifically narrates the story of Eli Whitney, who famously invented machine upon the stated needs of farmers and tremendously improved the productivity of cotton farmers. As an interesting contrast, Rivoli immediately made an investigation into how India and China, the two supposedly strong competitors in cotton industry, did around the same period in history. It turned out that these two oriental countries were reluctant to give up old methods and explored new ones, however more efficient the new ones might be. The entrepreneurial characteristics in American farmers gives rise to the technology boom in the US, which makes the US dominance on cotton possible.
What surprises me the most in this section is the persistent use of subsidy by the government in the US. As I have learnt in International Trade, production subsidy will create production distortionary cost, implying that though more farmers are engaged in the production of cotton, not all of them producing most efficiently; some of them might simply be more productive if they work elsewhere. Thus, the entire country's relative productivity in cotton should be reasonably assumed to lower. This should hinder the US from continual dominance on cotton. However, Rivoli concludes that since the US plays a big role in the world's market for demand and supply, the US can influence the world price effectively. The decreasing world price resulted from increasing world supply crowds out competitors from other countries who do not benefit from a production subsidy. Thus, the US are able to enjoy a sustainable dominance on cotton. This is quite different from the traditional international trade theory that I have been exposed to, and I am eager to read more on subsidy in the other sections of the book.
Rivoli distinctly denotes that many American farmers demonstrate remarkable adaptability and entrepreneurial spirits, as opposed to the tradition-bounded farmers in poor countries. He specifically narrates the story of Eli Whitney, who famously invented machine upon the stated needs of farmers and tremendously improved the productivity of cotton farmers. As an interesting contrast, Rivoli immediately made an investigation into how India and China, the two supposedly strong competitors in cotton industry, did around the same period in history. It turned out that these two oriental countries were reluctant to give up old methods and explored new ones, however more efficient the new ones might be. The entrepreneurial characteristics in American farmers gives rise to the technology boom in the US, which makes the US dominance on cotton possible.
What surprises me the most in this section is the persistent use of subsidy by the government in the US. As I have learnt in International Trade, production subsidy will create production distortionary cost, implying that though more farmers are engaged in the production of cotton, not all of them producing most efficiently; some of them might simply be more productive if they work elsewhere. Thus, the entire country's relative productivity in cotton should be reasonably assumed to lower. This should hinder the US from continual dominance on cotton. However, Rivoli concludes that since the US plays a big role in the world's market for demand and supply, the US can influence the world price effectively. The decreasing world price resulted from increasing world supply crowds out competitors from other countries who do not benefit from a production subsidy. Thus, the US are able to enjoy a sustainable dominance on cotton. This is quite different from the traditional international trade theory that I have been exposed to, and I am eager to read more on subsidy in the other sections of the book.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Recent Economic Issue of the United Kingdom
Original Article: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/business/2012/March/business_March569.xml§ion=business
The Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom announced that the GDP contracted by a worse-than-expected 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, owing to a decline in the service sector and household spending. As a result, the prospect of another recession is raised for the United Kingdom.
Given that GDP is composed of household consumption, investment, government spending and net export, a decline in household spending will lower the GDP through the consumption sector. A decline in the service sector will bring a decrease in household consumption and export of services to foreign countries, which brings down the GDP again. Rising oil prices also put cost pressure on producers, who respond by decreasing supply, shifting the market supply to the left. The decline in production leads to a decrease in quantity and an increase in prices. Additionally, the poor economic performance in the Euro zone also influences the UK negatively, since the UK relies heavily on the neighboring countries for its trade. Therefore, net export declines, putting downward pressure on the GDP again.
One resolution to the problem would be to increase the supply of money in the market to boost household consumption. Thus, the consumption sector in the GDP will rise. However, this will lead to a negative by-product of inflation, which is already no small issue in the UK. Another possible policy will be to decrease the interest rates, which encourages firms to borrow money and increase their investments. Meanwhile, a lower interest rate will also give consumers the incentive to spend rather than to save. Additionally, the government can increase government expenditure by expanding infrastructure, which will lead to an increase in government spending as well as provide employment and reduce unemployment rate.
The Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom announced that the GDP contracted by a worse-than-expected 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, owing to a decline in the service sector and household spending. As a result, the prospect of another recession is raised for the United Kingdom.
Given that GDP is composed of household consumption, investment, government spending and net export, a decline in household spending will lower the GDP through the consumption sector. A decline in the service sector will bring a decrease in household consumption and export of services to foreign countries, which brings down the GDP again. Rising oil prices also put cost pressure on producers, who respond by decreasing supply, shifting the market supply to the left. The decline in production leads to a decrease in quantity and an increase in prices. Additionally, the poor economic performance in the Euro zone also influences the UK negatively, since the UK relies heavily on the neighboring countries for its trade. Therefore, net export declines, putting downward pressure on the GDP again.
One resolution to the problem would be to increase the supply of money in the market to boost household consumption. Thus, the consumption sector in the GDP will rise. However, this will lead to a negative by-product of inflation, which is already no small issue in the UK. Another possible policy will be to decrease the interest rates, which encourages firms to borrow money and increase their investments. Meanwhile, a lower interest rate will also give consumers the incentive to spend rather than to save. Additionally, the government can increase government expenditure by expanding infrastructure, which will lead to an increase in government spending as well as provide employment and reduce unemployment rate.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Reflection on "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits"
Original Article: http://colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html
In his article, Milton Friedman concludes that in a free market, the only social responsibility of business is to use its resources and engage in free and fair competition that increase its profits. To illustrate his major theme, Friedman approaches his conclusion from the points that:
- Corporate executive serves as an agent for owners of corporation. When he reduces returns for a corporation to fulfill a social responsibility, he is in effect imposing taxes and deciding on how to spend the proceeds, which raises political questions on principle and consequence.
- Exercising social responsibility is a justification for actions that are in fact in a corporation's own interest.
- By exercising social responsibilities, businessmen are calling for government control and are strengthening the already-too-prevalent view that the pursuit of profit is evil, which will do them no good in the long run.
For Friedman, the most important cultural value is Individualism, which states that people's decisions are independent and are made out of self-interest. He believes when a business makes a decision based on the needs and well-being of the group, it is in fact reducing rather than enhancing the interest of the whole society eventually.
In the first place, I share Adam Smith's famous statement on "the invisible hand" that by promoting an individual's own interest, he frequently promotes that of society more effectually. However, there should not be a conflict between business and social responsibility. Most rational corporate executives made business decisions out of incentive to promote interest. This would not, and should not, exclude the case of exercising social responsibility. Therefore, it can be reasonably expected that business will assume the social responsibilities that will enhance its own interest in the first place. This will lead to an effective function of the invisible hand. Eventually, business should be able to exercise social responsibility along with truly benefitting the society.
In his article, Milton Friedman concludes that in a free market, the only social responsibility of business is to use its resources and engage in free and fair competition that increase its profits. To illustrate his major theme, Friedman approaches his conclusion from the points that:
- Corporate executive serves as an agent for owners of corporation. When he reduces returns for a corporation to fulfill a social responsibility, he is in effect imposing taxes and deciding on how to spend the proceeds, which raises political questions on principle and consequence.
- Exercising social responsibility is a justification for actions that are in fact in a corporation's own interest.
- By exercising social responsibilities, businessmen are calling for government control and are strengthening the already-too-prevalent view that the pursuit of profit is evil, which will do them no good in the long run.
For Friedman, the most important cultural value is Individualism, which states that people's decisions are independent and are made out of self-interest. He believes when a business makes a decision based on the needs and well-being of the group, it is in fact reducing rather than enhancing the interest of the whole society eventually.
In the first place, I share Adam Smith's famous statement on "the invisible hand" that by promoting an individual's own interest, he frequently promotes that of society more effectually. However, there should not be a conflict between business and social responsibility. Most rational corporate executives made business decisions out of incentive to promote interest. This would not, and should not, exclude the case of exercising social responsibility. Therefore, it can be reasonably expected that business will assume the social responsibilities that will enhance its own interest in the first place. This will lead to an effective function of the invisible hand. Eventually, business should be able to exercise social responsibility along with truly benefitting the society.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Reflection on Dr. Richard Shweder's Speech
Dr. Richard Shweder delivered the concept that after the Berlin Wall fell down on November 9, 1989, a New World Order is predicted to replace the old tripartite classification of "First World", "Second World" and "Third World". Three prophesies on the shape of the New World order include:
- The west is the best and will take over the world.
- Nations will attain economic growth while maintaing their distinctive cultures.
- A liberal Ottoman-Like empire will emerge. There will be both cosmopolitan liberals, who appreciate neutrality and globalization, and local non-liberals, who are dedicated to ethnicity.
I believe education in different countries could be a good indicator of global change. A nation that encourages globalization tends to promote the value of cultural diversity in the core courses in educational institutes within that country, while a nation that is dedicated to local development will emphasize domestic history and culture. Additionally, students who are educated with a global mindset are more likely to assume global citizen responsibility, which in return shapes the world. In recent years, it has been observed that educational institutions around the globe have been making profound effort in fostering open-mindedness toward diverse cultures among their citizens. There has been an increasing number of exchange students and visiting scholars around the world. Global concept is deeply incorporated in core values delivered to young generations. As both the cause and the consequence, globalization is an irreversible trend in the world today, and it can be reasonably predicted to thrive in foreseeable future.
I am convinced that culture is one of the most vital factors that shape economic outcomes. To an extend, culture determines the political and economic system of a country. One distinct example will be China. The Chinese is a nation that highly values collectivism. For thousands of years of history, the Chinese people were accustomed to the concept of having a sole decision-maker, mostly the emperor, and everybody worked collectively to execute his decisions. As a legacy, today it turns out more effective in China than in other countries to have a centralized government that makes major decisions in economic activities, rather than to allow for an entirely free market. The cultural traits in the Chinese nation have greatly shaped China's economic outcome.
- The west is the best and will take over the world.
- Nations will attain economic growth while maintaing their distinctive cultures.
- A liberal Ottoman-Like empire will emerge. There will be both cosmopolitan liberals, who appreciate neutrality and globalization, and local non-liberals, who are dedicated to ethnicity.
I believe education in different countries could be a good indicator of global change. A nation that encourages globalization tends to promote the value of cultural diversity in the core courses in educational institutes within that country, while a nation that is dedicated to local development will emphasize domestic history and culture. Additionally, students who are educated with a global mindset are more likely to assume global citizen responsibility, which in return shapes the world. In recent years, it has been observed that educational institutions around the globe have been making profound effort in fostering open-mindedness toward diverse cultures among their citizens. There has been an increasing number of exchange students and visiting scholars around the world. Global concept is deeply incorporated in core values delivered to young generations. As both the cause and the consequence, globalization is an irreversible trend in the world today, and it can be reasonably predicted to thrive in foreseeable future.
I am convinced that culture is one of the most vital factors that shape economic outcomes. To an extend, culture determines the political and economic system of a country. One distinct example will be China. The Chinese is a nation that highly values collectivism. For thousands of years of history, the Chinese people were accustomed to the concept of having a sole decision-maker, mostly the emperor, and everybody worked collectively to execute his decisions. As a legacy, today it turns out more effective in China than in other countries to have a centralized government that makes major decisions in economic activities, rather than to allow for an entirely free market. The cultural traits in the Chinese nation have greatly shaped China's economic outcome.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
UK Statistics on Resources, International Trade and National Income
1, Resources:
a, Natural Resources: Coal, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Iron Ore, Lead, Zinc, Gold, Tin, Limestone, Salt, Clay, Chalk, Gypsum, Potash, Silica Sand, Slate, Arable Land
b, Labor:
- Labor Force (2011 est.): 31,76 million
* Country ranking: 20
- Labor Force by Occupation (2006 est.)
1), Services: 80.4%
2), Industry: 18.2%
3), Agriculture: 1.4%
c, Capital: information unfound
2, International Trade
a, Exports (2011 est.): $495.4 billion
* Country ranking: 11
b, Import (2011 est.): $654.9 billion
* Country ranking: 7
c, Exchange rate (2011 est.): USD/GBP 0.6176
3, National Income Account
a, Consumption - Household Consumption by Percentage Share (1999 est.)
- Lowest 10%: 2.1%
- Highest 10%: 28.5%
b, Investment (2011 est.): 14.4% of GDP
* Country ranking: 167
c, Government Expense (2011 est.):
- Taxes and other revenue: 40.9% of GDP
* Country Ranking: 39
- Budget Deficit: -8.8% of GDP
* Country Ranking: 191
a, Natural Resources: Coal, Petroleum, Natural Gas, Iron Ore, Lead, Zinc, Gold, Tin, Limestone, Salt, Clay, Chalk, Gypsum, Potash, Silica Sand, Slate, Arable Land
b, Labor:
- Labor Force (2011 est.): 31,76 million
* Country ranking: 20
- Labor Force by Occupation (2006 est.)
1), Services: 80.4%
2), Industry: 18.2%
3), Agriculture: 1.4%
c, Capital: information unfound
2, International Trade
a, Exports (2011 est.): $495.4 billion
* Country ranking: 11
b, Import (2011 est.): $654.9 billion
* Country ranking: 7
c, Exchange rate (2011 est.): USD/GBP 0.6176
3, National Income Account
a, Consumption - Household Consumption by Percentage Share (1999 est.)
- Lowest 10%: 2.1%
- Highest 10%: 28.5%
b, Investment (2011 est.): 14.4% of GDP
* Country ranking: 167
c, Government Expense (2011 est.):
- Taxes and other revenue: 40.9% of GDP
* Country Ranking: 39
- Budget Deficit: -8.8% of GDP
* Country Ranking: 191
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