Globalisation and the car industry

A few weeks ago (Saturday 27th January) I posted about globalisation and gave you a few links to resources on the subject which feature on the BBC website. Since then they have put up a few new pages specifically about the global car industry.

Here, for example is a pie chart showing the source of cars sold in the US in 1955 and, for comparison, a similar graph for 2005.

If you click on either of the graphs, you will link to the relevant page of the BBC website and be able to explore the topic further.

There is also a linked article here about Toyota production in the US.

Steelmaking in S Wales: another nail in the coffin?

You have recently been looking at steelmaking in South Wales with Mrs W and you should be familiar with the 'story' of its changing location - most recently to the coast to sites at Port Talbot and Llanwern. Originally operated by British Steel and then taken over by the Anglo-Dutch company Corus, the steelworks at Llanwern was, in 2001, the latest victim of rationalisation of the steel industry in South Wales.

Today, Corus was taken over by an Indian company, Tata Steel, and the fortunes of the remaining plant at Port Talbot probably hang in the balance. With the whole world to choose from, will Tata Steel see Port Talbot as having any locational advantages or are there other locations which are now better placed to produce the steel for world markets?
There is a good question and answer article on the subject on the BBC website and links to other related resources here.

France is a province of Paris!

There is a very long history of centralisation of economic and political activity in France. Everything of importance in France happens in Paris... or so the Parisians would have you believe! However, a nice little mapping tool which has received some attention today in the geography circles I network in (sad, I know) shows there to be some truth in this assertion. The map above was produced by Yale University's geographically based economic data project ... and it does indeed show a concentration of economic activity around Paris.

The same website allows you to produce maps for many countries in the world which means that it is possible to look at the distribution of economic activity both within and between countries. Here, for example, are the maps for the UK, USA and India.....

What do they show about regional development in the three countries?

Surprisingly, despite its predominantly rural population, India would appear to have a more even spread of economic activity than the UK with few areas showing up as blue.

USA... a nation of two halves?

Globalisation : a new fangled word

'Globalisation' is a word which didn't exist when I was at school... or university.......or in any of the textbooks I used when I first started teaching... or even when I had been teaching for quite a long time! However, globalisation is very much part of the vocabulary of geography in the 21st century and understanding it is fundametal to an understanding of how the global economy works - what drives it, where it is driven and who the winners and losers are.

It is sometimes difficult to find resources on globalisation which are written in a language that non-economists can understand but this week the business pages of the BBC website have done just that. Starting last Sunday, there has been a series of articles which have been an easy to read guide to globalisation. You can link to them by clicking the headlines...
Globalisation shakes the world
The Rise of the Bangalore Tigers
Multinationals lead India's IT Revolution
Globalisation : The Key Facts

Finally, there is a stimulating on-line discussion on globalisation which you can link to here. There are a huge range of views on the subject from all over the world.