Lesson 1: Introduction, World Regions and Theories of Uneven Economic Development

January 15, 2018

Introduction:

• Syllabus: S18-Syllabus-EC320-GeogWorldEcon-Holman
• Blackboard
• Make up Exam policy

Presentation:

• World Regions
  • Continents
  • Global Sales Territory Partition (typical) in Business
    • Americas – North and South America
    • EMEA – Europe, Middle East and Africa
    • Asia Pacific – South, East and Southeast Asia + Australia/Oceania
  • World Bank Regions
  • The Plaid Avenger (John Boyer) – World Regions

  • 

  • We will break the globe down into 4 regions/modules
    • Europe + Russia
    • Middle East + Northern Africa
    • Asia (South Asia + East Asia + Southeast Asia + Japan)
    • Latin America (South America + Central America + Caribbean + Mexico)
    • We will *not* cover Australia/New Zealand, Central Asia, most of Africa
• Theories of Uneven Development
  • Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel – Episode 1
    • Summary of Diamond’s arguments
    • Agricultural Revolution in the Fertile Crescent 
    • Domestication of animals
      • Sources of meat, milk, leather, wool, etc
      • Source of muscle power for plowing, transportation
      • Only cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep are readily domesticated
        • all these animals were available in Eurasia, not so elsewhere
      • Zebras, llama, buffalo, elephant, etc
        • from other continents
        • not too easy to domesticate
    • Spread of agriculture and animal domestication practices, geographically
      • Easy in Eurasia due to latitudinal (east-west) orientation where climate is relatively consistent.
      • Difficult in South America, Africa
    • Technology:
      • advances in tool-making, steel, military weapons, etc
      • enabled by agriculture and animal domestication food surplus
    • Germs
      • Native people in the Americas were susceptible to small pox and other diseases
      • Eurasian people developed immunity to disease due to animal domestication
  • Niall Ferguson, 6 Killer Apps – Ted Talk, PBS page
    • Institutions and culture, not geography, are pillars of economic development
    • Competition, science, private property, modern medicine, consumerism, work ethic
    • Examples of geography not making a difference
      • East-West Germany
      • North-South Korea

Activity:

• World Map

Assignment:

• Watch Guns, Germs and Steel – Episode 1 (6 sequential videos, ~55 min)
• Watch Niall Ferguson, 6 Killer Apps Ted Talk (~20 min)