GEOG 3515

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GEOG 3515

• The Geography of South America

Class 20 Economic GeographyGlobalization
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Globalization

• In 1999, more than 1.5 trillion was exchanged in
  the worlds currency markets each day, and nearly
  a fifth of the goods and services produced were
  traded between nations (UNDP 1999 HDR on the
  theme of globalization).
• But globalization is more than the flow of money
  and commodities it is the growing
  interdependence of the worlds people,
  integrating not just the economy but culture,
  technology and governance.
• South America, relatively speaking, is becoming
  more interconnected and subject to the forces of
  globalization, but the connectedness, both good
  types and bad, penetrate differently into the
  society.
• Some benefit greatly from globalization, while
  others hardly benefit at all and may even suffer
  greatly.

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French Guiana not considered by UNDP
Data Source UNDP Human Development Report 2002
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Foreign Corporations

• The WRI 2003 lists that there are around 68,000
  transnational corporations globally.
• South America has a large number of foreign
  corporations active in its territory.
• Most tend to be skewed towards the biggest
  economies and populations.

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Changing Face of Employment

• With less secure international markets and
  volatility in economic cycles, employment
  patterns in South America are changing.
• Contract laws have been loosened, in part due to
  pressure from transnational companies and foreign
  investors looking to lower labor costs.
• Jobs in the informal sector (no official
  contract) has accounted for some 85 of the
  growth in the economies of Latin America over the
  last decade and the in this sector has risen
  from 52 to 58 from 1990 to 2000.
• They now make up 30 of the workers in Chile, 36
  in Argentina, 39 in Colombia and 41 in Peru
  (UNDP HDR 2002).
• Globalization has resulted in an insufficient
  creation of jobs in relation to the expansion of
  the workforce, influenced by the growing
  incorporation of women into the labor arena.
• Latin Americas average unemployment rate rose
  from 6.7 in 1980 to 8.8 in 1999 (World Bank
  data 2002).

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Not in the Global Top 20

• Foreign Policy Magazine compiles an index of the
  62 most globalized nations.
• Highest in South America is Chile 39 with
  Argentina 52, Colombia 58, Brazil 60 and
  Venezuela 62.

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Globally Connected
French Guiana not considered by UNDP
Data Source UNDP Human Development Report 2002
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Internet Usage

• South America, as part of Latin America and the
  Caribbean, in general is still little connected
  to the worldwide web.
• Dominated by English, Spanish-speakers are not as
  able to access worldwide information sources even
  assuming connections multiply.

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Culturally Connected

• Television, which is widely available, is
  dominated by foreign programming, especially
  American and usually dubbed in Spanish (the
  market is large enough).
• 1996 data showed the average number of
  televisions per 1000 people to vary between
  345/1000 in Argentina to 142/1000 in Peru.
• The USA had 806/1000 and the world average was
  235, probably around the same as for South
  America as a whole.

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Anti-Globalization

• Morales, the main opposition leader in Bolivia,
  Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, and other
  South American leaders are wary of globalization
  and free trade in terms of whether it will bring
  benefits to the region.
• Anti-globalization protesters dog WTO and
  Free-Trade Zone for the Americas meetings
  wherever they are held.
• A sample of their rhetoric can be seen at
  FTAA.pdf put together by the Latin American
  Solidarity Coalition.
• Free-Trade Hawks like Milton Friedman would
  dispute this notion, suggesting that only through
  multi-national investment and free-market
  policies will South American economies compete
  and grow, rather than stagnate.
• Bushs plan for Latin America should make it
  easier for US corporations to base production
  facilities in the region.

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Remittance Incomes

• One way that South American economies and
  cultures are interconnected is through the
  remittance system.
• Commonly, migrants from South America, especially
  to the USA and Europe, send back or remit monies
  to relatives in their country of origin.
• In South America, this can total up to 10 of a
  countries GDP in a given year, dwarfing many of
  the established industries as sources of income
  to workers and as foreign income earners.
• It is estimated that remittances to South America
  exceed tens of billions of dollars (Ecuadorians
  alone send home more than 1 billion as do
  Brazilians).
• Much of this is carried out by money order or
  wire transfer (e.g. Western Union) or through
  hand carrying by intermediaries.