Thursday, April 28, 2011

Globalization Test Review Terms

NOTE: This test will be 20 multiple choice questions ONLY, so it's imperative that you study terms and concepts from the last two weeks.

globalization
global interdependence
World Trade Organization
World Bank
International Monetary Fund
International Court of Justice/ World Court
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
tariff
sanction
embargo
subsidy
subsidize
protective tariff
union
Turtle Exclusion Device
International Whaling Commission
sustainability
unilateral
sovereignty
sweatshop
multinational corporation
outsourcing
fair trade
free trade
lazissez faire
service industry
manufacturing industry


Additionally, be sure to review the arguments for and against globalizaiton as well as why some people support and oppose the WTO, World Bank and IMF

Be familiar with economic, social, political, technological and environmental aspects of all perspectives.

Friday, April 22, 2011

May Day 101: An Introduction to the International Labor Movement


May 1st is May Day, an international holiday honoring the rights and causes of workers worldwide. This week’s blog asks you to explore contemporary May Day traditions worldwide and requires you to evaluate the role of the labor movement in the modern world.


Introduction:


May Day, also known as International Worker’s Day, is an international day of activism for working people and their families. The origins of May Day can be traced to the national strike movement for an 8 hour work day which gained momentum in the industrial American cities in 1886. In particular, the Chicago strike received national attention as a movement of nearly 35,000 strikers from April 25- May 3 escalated into a riot, resulting in the deaths of three workers. Seeking revenge for what many workers believed to be police brutality (blaming riot police for the escalation of the violence at the Haymarket Square demonstration), strikers continued demonstrating- one angered radical threw a bomb at the police, killing a uniformed officer. While no individual was ever directly linked through evidence to that death, five union organizers were tired, convicted of and received capital (death) sentences for the officer’s murder. Public uproar over the (mis) trial continued and American workers have conducted annual protests on May 1st ever since. In1893, Governor John Peter Altgeld granted the three imprisoned Haymarket defendants (one of them committed suicide in prison) absolute pardon, citing the lack of evidence against them and the unfairness of the trial.

While the immediate result of the Haymarket Affair can be viewed as a mixed result for the labor movement, the protestors work was not in vain. Unions in the mining, railroad worker’s and building trades industries successfully negotiated an eight hour work day by 1890. The Fair Labor Standards Act established the eight hour workday as a federal labor regulation in 1938 as part of FDR’s New Deal reforms.

Inspired by the success of the American labor movements as publicized by the London and New York Times, Mexico and France honored Mayday in 1890 and the movement spread on a global scale ever since. National Labour Day, as it is called in the UK, Austrialia New Zeland, have become particularly popular among workers rights activists since the anti-globalization movement emerged in 1999. While many of the protests have been peaceful demonstrations, there have also been multiple incidents of escalation on both the activists’ and police/ governments’ behalf.

Directions:
1. Actively view the photo essay “May Day” in the TIME Magazine Europe archive from 2011: http://www.time.com/time/europe/photoessays/mayday/And ONE of the following articles on how May Day is honored abroad:

South Korea:
http://mayday.nodong.net/2000/laborday/khistorye.htm
Cuba:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7377662.stm/
Germany:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090429/business/finance_economy_germany_demo_mayday

Mexico: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33059

Australia: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/australia/labour-day

Response: Your post, emailed or typed response is due Wed. April 27 and should be no less than 250 words.





Summarize what you learned about May Day/ International Worker’s Day from the sources. How do the issues you read about relate to what we are learning in class about globalization and/ or trade regulations and the WTO? Provide at least two examples of specific topics we have covered in class or that may have come up in your project.


In your view, should the US adopt May Day/ International Worker’s Day as a federal holiday as it is in Spain and Australia? Explain.

Friday, April 8, 2011

International Trade and Globalization Webquest

For classwork today, complete the questions for the Webquest sections 1-3.

Your blog assessment that is due TUESDAY before class and should be no fewer than 250 words typed. Be sure to include a citation of any articles you reference for question 4.


Hey Hey, Ho Ho! Why do we need the WTO?
www.wto.org
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/2429503.stm
http://www.g20.org/about_what_is_g20.aspx

1. What is the World Trade Organization, (WTO)?

a. When was it created?

b. Why was it created?


c. Who are its members (in general) ? Who are the G20? (name them)


What is their role in the modern world? What do they do?




2. What is the International Monetary Fond (IMF);
http://www.imf.org/external/about.htm

a. when was it created?

b. Why was it created?


c. What does the IMF do?


d. How does it work?

e. What makes the IMF unpopular?


4. Find out about the World Bank:
http://www.worldbank.org
a. What does it do?

b. Where does the money go?


c. Where does the bank get its money?


d. Who are its members?


e. Who gets to decide where the money goes?



Blog Assignment - Research the internet to identify one example of a modern issue/ region being affected directly by one of the institutions (WTO, IMF or Word Bank).

a. Where is this partnership taking place?

b. Why is this institution involved there?

c. What are their goals for this project?

d. In your opinion, is this a wise investment/ development plan? Explain.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Stocks and Scandals Review Terms for Wednesday's Exam



Note: Use your Language of the Stock Market open note quiz to prepare for this exam. As it is mainly a vocabulary test, it's important to STUDY and memorize definitions, examples and formulas for this test.

Stock Terms
risk & return
stock
share
dividend
NYSE
American Stock Exchange
NASDAQ
Dow Jones
S & P 500
book value
beta
preferred stock
common stock
cyclical stock
counter cyclical stock
growth stock
income stock
blue chip stock
speculative stock
value stock
div/yield
market cap
last price
ask
bid
Yield
Volume
52 Week Hi-Low
Year to Date %
regulators
FDIC
IRS
SEC
split stock
merger
assets
liabilities
bull market
bear market
broker
Series 7 Exam
loopholes
CEO
CFO
Earnings Per Share
P/E (Price/ Earnings) Ratio
Diversified Portfolio
commodities
globalization

Enron Terms:
Jeff Skilling
Kenneth Lay
Andy Fastau
Arthur Anderson
auditors
subsidies
mark to market accounting
rank and yank
pump and dump
bandwidth
PGE
bankruptcy
rolling blackouts
insider trading
401 K
Pensions
perjury

Friday, April 1, 2011

Introduction to Globalization: Case Studies in Enron and Otherwise



In the interest of bridging our current unit on stocks and scandals with our upcoming unit on globalization, this week's blog asks you to explore the concept of globalization through the lens of the global impact and underpinnings of the Enron scandal.

Directions:

1. Read “What is Globalization” at http://www.globalization101.org/What_is_Globalization.html

Summarize what globalization means to you (based on the articles) and identify several potentially positive and negative effects of the growing trend of global interdependence.
* you may also want to read the hyperlink for “investment” and “international trade” for additional information

2. Next read the Nation article entitled “Enron’s Global Crusade”
http://www.thenation.com/article/enrons-global-crusade
Explain how globalization is related to the Enron scandal – even though it was a US based and traded company. Do you think the Enron case represents the positive or negative aspects of globalization? Explain.

For extra credit (10 points on a blog or test) summarize a RECENT article describing the impact of globalization on a modern company or industry. Be sure tp cite your article (author's last, first name, "Title of Article", Title of Page. Date Posted. )

Your blog should be no fewer than 250 TYPED words. The extra credit should be a minimum of 150 words. Handwritten blogs will lose 10% of their grade. This assignment is due Tuesday, April 5 before class.

Reminder: Progress reports are due Thursday, so catch up with any missing work.