Poolsbrook country park site case study. Sustainability.

Poolsbrook is in Derbyshire and is a caravan site.

It was developed on a brownfield site (an area with previous construction)

Uses sustainable energy features to reduce costs such as:

• Solar heating panels
• Photovoltaic panel to convert sunlight into electricity
• Wind turbine
• Low energy light bulbs
• A ground source heat recovery system that exploits geothermal energy

They also realise that by promoting sustainability it is a useful marketing and advertising tool.

Won awards in 2009 for both regeneration and sustainability.

Curitiba Case Study - Sustainable City

Curitiba is in Brazil and is recognized as one of the most sustainable cities in the world. It is in east Brazil and has a population of 1.8 million.


Started in 1970 when a team led by Jaime Lerner devised a plan to incorporate ecology, efficient transport, user friendly open spaces along with other goals.


Key aspects of Curitiba include:

• Very efficient bus system where lanes are designated for buses to make journeys quicker and there is a 5 pronged star shape road network to increase efficiency. The bus is cheap (single priced ticket system) and makes travelling quick and easy. 75% of commuters take the buses and this results in 25% less congestion and 30% reduction in fuel consumption.
• Encourage recycling and have a green swap system, this encourages people to walk to a local recycling point where they can swap their waste for bus tickets, food etc. 2/3 of the city's waste is now recycled. The program is voluntary but 70% of households participate.
• There is a lot of open space (28 parks) and pedestrianization which increases the stand of living and also the environment. 52 square metres of green space per person. Builders are encouraged to crate green areas with their buildings by being given tax breaks.
• Encourages non-polluting and hi-tech industries has been successful in achieving growth, avg growth rate of 7.1% (national average of 4.2%). There is high wealth in Curitiba with 66% higher per capita incomes than the Brazil average.

Nepal Earthquake - A level Geography

On Saturday 25th April a 7.8 earthquake measuring on the richter scale hit just 80km outside of Kathmandu (capital of Nepal).

The region had 2.5 million people living there.
Today the death toll stands at 5000+ and expected to rise.

The earthquake occurred where the Indian plate is being sub ducted beneath Eurasian plate at a destructive plate boundary. The India plate is moving at 5cm a year towards Asia. A powerful 6.7 tremor hit on Sunday as an aftershock.

The 19th century, 200 step Dharahara tower in Kathmandu collapsed.

Problems with the response is that much of the worst hit areas are mountainous therefore the roads to deliver aid via are blocked by debris making the response slow in areas. There as been a slow response with aid with many locals complaining about the government not helping them move out or helping them with food. Nepal's one airport has struggled to cope with the huge amount of aid that is being flown in therefore it is stockpiled there and not being distributed efficiently.

Subsidies - Economics Unit 1

A subsidy is a type of benefit given by the government in order to remove some sort of burden and increase the consumption of merit goods. An example is subsidies for wind farm investment in order to encourage them.

Here is a diagram of a subsidy. 

The area of deadweight loss is the cost to society created by market inefficiency. This is because total surplus with a subsidy is under that of when it is in a free market.

The size of the subsidy is the difference between P1 and P2. The cost of the subsidy is whole shaded area. You work it out by finding new equilibrium point taking it across,  then taking it up to original supply curve then taking it across 

Subsidies are usually seen as government intervention when there is an under consumption of a merit good. Therefore a way of solving an externality. I will go into detail on another post.

Tax - Economics Unit 1 + 3

TAX  A tax is a compulsory charge made by the government, on goods, services, incomes or capital.
Reasons for tax:

• Raise government revenue
• reduce inequality
• reduce competitiveness of foreign goods
• influence public spending

Tax - Unit 1:

• Direct tax is tax levied on an individual or organisation ie. income or corporation tax.
• Indirect tax is usually levied on purchase of goods or services. A tax on expenditure.

Indirect tax 

Has two types. Tax raises the price of a good by adding to the supply curve and shifting it left. In unit 1 taxes are used to solve negative externalities. ie. use of cigarettes.

• Ad Valorem tax - charged as a percentage of the price of the good. ie. VAT is 20%. Causes pivotal rotation of supply curve.

• Specific tax - charged a fixed amount per unit of a good. ie. excise tax on wine. Causes a parallel shift of the supply curve. 

The incidence of tax falls on partly the consumer and producer but the majority is dependent a combo of the PED and PES for that good. Goods that have inelastic demand such as addictive products ie. cigarettes, usually the incidence falls mainly on the consumer. This means the firm can pass on a higher price to them as they are willing to pay. 

A diagram shows how the incidence falls.

Here is a relatively even incidence but in some cases it can be heavily on the consumer or heavily on the producers dependent on the elasticities.

Tax - Unit 4:

Two types of tax already mentioned. Indirect is levied on expenditure and direct are those that cannot be passed on to anyone else and levied on income and wealth.

main direct taxes are income, corporation and capital gains. 

Three broad categories for taxes:

• progressive tax - as you get richer you pay more tax ie. income. to redistribute wealth.
• proportional - the percent you pay stays constant. ie. earn 10% more so you're taxed 10% more.
• regressive - the poorer you are the more you pay. ie. VAT, you can argue that as a percent of income they pay more than the rich. 

The Laffer curve

The laffer curve shows that in theory tax gets to a certain level where people pay then when it goes any higher people are disincentivised (due to more income going to government) and tax revenue decreases.

After tax rate of M the revenue starts to decrease, this is showing that people are not incentivised.

The Growth Of China

China Today...
Second largest economy in the world GDP= $9.24 trillion
worlds fastest growing major economy (however in 2014 suffered slowest growth for 24 years, still 7.2%)
Second largest trading nation and largest exporter of goods
Since 1978 the average income has x4
during last 10 years has contribute more than 30% to global economy
Attracts most FDI in the world

How did it get there?
China's rapid growth started when it switched from a centrally planned economy to a more market orientated economy in 1978 under Deng Xioping. This opened up China to all sorts of opportunities. TNCs started to use the country an an export platform which made it a major competitor on that field to the Asian Tigers.
FDI was initially encouraged in SEZs (small enterprise zones) which were situated along the coast. In early 1980s the number of SEZs was expanded to a total of 17 (14 coastal, 3 inland). These SEZs were areas that had separate, more relaxed regulations and improved infrastructure in order to attract FDI. Shanghai is an example of an SEZ.
China joined the WTO in 2001 which allowed it greater access onto the global market.
China had competitive advantages due to their large population, cheap labour force and their ability to push policies through quickly.


However this growth caused many problems...
There have been massive disparities in incomes creating huge inequality. Areas are being left behind such as Suchuan and many rural areas.
Rapid industialization has caused major pollution in the form of smog and polluted waters (31/52 of the major lakes have severe pollution). Acid rain falls on 30% China.

Seismic Waves

There are two main types of seismic waves

1. body waves
2. surface waves

Body Waves

Body waves travel through the boy of the earth.

• P-waves: Longitudinal waves (movement of particles is the same direction as the wave). They travel through air, liquid and solids (through solids at 5000 m/s. They hit first and are the fastest of the two body waves.
• S-waves: the next wave that hits is the S-wave. This is a transverse wave (movement of particles perpendicular to direction of wave). Slightly slower than the P-waves and only travel through solids.

Surface Waves

Travel through the surface and are more destructive than body waves

• Love waves: transverse waves that are very damaging to structures' foundations
• Rayleigh waves: Longitudinal waves that are slightly slower than love waves.

Economic Vs Environmental Sustainability

Sustainability has 3 pillars:


Environmental - preserving needs of today without compromising needs of future. Involves protecting biodiversity and reducing pollution


Economic - using resources in an optimal way that can be achieved over the long term. Involves access to money, no corruption etc.


Social - a social system that operates in a way of keeping a level of wellbeing that can be sustained in the future Involves freedom of speech and access to healthcare and education.


The common problem faced is that as countries develop and industrialize they consume more and more natural resources are used up. This is happening at rate which is not sustainable. The challenge faced is that western consumption needs to be curbed and we increasing the standard of living in developing countries without increasing environmental impact or resource use.
Traditionally countries have developed at expense of environment. However according to the Kuznets curve a country gets to a stage where in order to increase GDP per capita further it needs to improve the environment. This could be due to the increased wealth and developed society are more aware of the environment. German economist Karl-Heinze Paque says that 'environmental protection comes from affluence'.


ESI was the original indicator of environmental sustainable development. It was in place from 1999 to 2005, it had 21 indicators and Finland topped the ESI with 75.1,
Since 205 the ESI has been replaced with the EPI which ranks countries and focuses more on outcome indicators. Switzerland top the EPI followed by Luxembourg. Note that the top 10 on the EPI are developed countries this backs up the statement from Paque.


So the real problem lies with the 2/3 of the population living in developing countries who need to improve the quality of life without destroying the environment by using up resources or impacting the environment too heavily. We need to live within our limits.


An example of sustainable development is in the Galapagos islands who pursue sustainable tourism. See ecotourism post to see case study.


Another example of sustainable development is Curitiba in Brazil. See other post for case study.

Assess view that economic development is dependant on economic growth. Give example. PLAN

Define eco development + growth

• increased economic growth should = increased wages = increased standard of living
• increased eco growth = greater investment on infrastructure = increased FDI
• increased GDP = job creation = multiplier effect
• Eval - if develop too much jobs can be replaced by machines
• Eval - distribution of income
• Eval - depends where the money is invested

WTO, IMF and the World Bank

WTO is the world trade organization and their role is to help trade flow freely.

• only global organization dealing with the rules of trade between countries
• goal is to help producers of goods, services, exporters and importers conduct their business
• WTO agreements are signed by the large trading nations and are essentially binding contracts to keep trade policies within certain limits. ie. reduce protectionism by getting rid of tariffs or quotas.
• established in 1995
• 160 countries/members

World Bank is there to help developing countries.

• source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries
• aim is to reduce poverty and support development.
• They have two main goals: 1. end extreme poverty by 2030 and 2. promote shared prosperity (promoting incomes of the bottom 40% of developing countries)

IMF is the international monetary fund and they help countries with stability and growth

• 188 countries
• working to secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote employment and sustainable eco. growth along with reducing poverty
• independent organization that promotes monetary cooperation and exchange rate stability.

Riders For Health Kenya - Geog4B

Riders For Health is an NGO set up by Barry and Andrea Coleman alongside Randy Momola in 1996. The scheme trains mobilizes health workers in order to reach rural areas and cater for the healthcare needs. They do various things such as HIV testing to health education sessions. The healthcare workers are mobilized by motorbikes in which they are trained in maintaining therefore they can reach rural ares over tough terrain. R4H is in seven different African countries and was introduced into Kenya in 2002.

Kenya and R4H (brief of AIB)
(Page 3) Kenya's health profile looks like this

• Population - 45 million
• Life expectancy - 63 - up 3 in 4 years
• IMR - 40.71/1000 - halved in 4 years
• Maternal Mortality rate - 3.6/1000

(Page 4) R4H was set up as mentioned by Andrea, Barry and Randy. They registered that many bikes were being left unattended and not working due to simple problems such as a flat tyre. They saw the opportunity that if they could fix them up and get them running then more healthcare would be delivered especially in tough terrain rural area that 60% of Kenya live on. R4H was announced n NGO in 1996 and operate in 7 countries across Africa.

(Page 5) They began operations in 2002 and they have 8 staff who manage 77 vehicles. The R4H bases are in Kisumu (western) and Nairobi (central).

(Page 6) In 2011 a training academy was set up in order to help riders develop skills such as driving, maintaining and journey planning with their bikes. An extra 20,000 people across Kenya can be reached due to the R4H. This is mainly due to travel time being cut from 4 hours down to 1. and being able to reach 80KM away instead of only 20KM.

(Page 7) The terrain and relief in Kenya is very varied. The highest areas are in the south western areas on the borders with Uganda and Tanzania. Kisumu where the academy was set up is located here and has relief of over 1000m.

(Page 8) Precipitation is also highest in these south western areas, with places such as Kisumu getting 2000mm+ of rainfall a year. This coincides with the higher the land the more rain which makes the terrain more difficult.

(Page 9) Cropland is once again highest in southwestern area such as Kisumu, this could be due to the relief and weather. Agriculture and crops is the main contributor to the nations GDP. Therefore there will be many rural communities that require healthcare. If better healthcare, better productivity.

(Page 10) Once again the southwestern rural areas have the highest population density with 600+ people per square KM in Kisumu. The main trend of the south western areas are between 100-599 people per square km. These people will therefore need healthcare.

(Page 11) Once again this coincides with the density of poverty which is in this region is high, Kisumu has 200+ people living on less that $2 a day per square km. This has a direct correlation with the healthcare needed in these areas and why bikes are so important.

(Page 12) There are many issues in Kenya regarding logistics of healthcare. The goods are supplied by KEMSA who are not very efficient and don't meet the needs of the people. The supplies are taken from Mombasa (coast) to central Nairobi and then to outlying warehouses. However there is a problem when it comes to the amount distributed to each area, the amount is based on the proportion of population living there and not to the areas that need it most. The deliveries are by lorries that struggle with rough terrain. The poor communications infrastructure gives local people no chance of ordering supplies according to local needs. The poor transport infrastructure makes it slow and unreliable to whether the supplies will reach the needed places. To improve an IT system needs to be put in place which will adapt the system to who needs it most. The delivery f the drugs could also be improved by vehicles better suited to rough terrain (motorbikes or 4x4).
Spending in the government is currently focusing on increasing the numbers of healthcare professionals and not on improving the infrastructure. I think this is a problem as many of the workers are moving to better paid posts abroad, and therefore the government are spending on the symptom and not the cause. There is a clear shortage of trained staff nationally but especially in rural areas where the number of patients to doctors is much lower than in urban areas.

(Page 13) There is an idea called rotating expat program which is to attract and develop talent from across the globe to come to Kenya to practice and train others in medicine for up to 2 years. This would benefit both countries. This would increase the numbers of workers and hopefully with a similar programme move some of the workers from urban to rural areas.

(Page 14) Millenium development goals  are 8 goals set in 2000 to be achieved by 2015.

1. eradicate hunger and poverty
2. universal primary education
3. gender eequality
4. reduce IMR
5. improve maternal health
6. combat HIV/Aids and other diseases
7. ensure environmental sustainability
8. develop global partnership

In 2005 it was said that the country were unlikely to achieve any of the MDGs due to lack of resources. A plan was put in place to help achieve the goals and one of the sections was 'strengthening service delivery systems'. This clearly relates to R4H. It is clear that investment works best when it is within a clearly structured health service with long term priorities. The main components of a functioning health system includes:

• human resources
• infrastructure 
• management capacity

Kenya has 500 hospitals, 611 health centres and 3310 sub centres. Each hospital has a raatio of 1:60000 people. Only 25% of Kenyans had access to  health facility within 8KM. 

Health expenditure in rural areas accounts for 30% of gov spending on health, whilst rural ares get 70%, yet only 20% live in urban areas...

(Page 15) Adding on from the report it stated:

• lack of supplies caused poor quality of care
• 10% of healthcare spending was on treatment of HIV
• utilization of facilities is low and this is due to a high cost of healthcare. Healthcare is not always free on point of delivery in Kenya. 

The document summarizes and gives the following suggestions:

• focus should be on improving the human capacity. Ie. more training and hiring, health workers and agricultural extension officers
• 39% should go to operations and maintenance. ie. on provision of anti malaria drugs and mosquto nets
• 19% should go towards investment in infrastructure
• In medium term spending should be focused on adding human capital and improving infrastructure especially down trunk road.

TNC Case Study - Coca Cola

Transnational companies are huge companies that operate in more than one country. Stereotypically the HQ is in an MEDC while factories are in developing countries as TNC's like to exploit cheap labor and land to maximize profits.


Coca Cola is the biggest manufacturer of drinks in the world. HQ is in Atlanta, America. &0% of it sales are from outside the USA. They don't only sell drinks but sell nearly 400 different products in more than 200 countries.


Positives of Coca Cola on host countries such as Russia:

• creates jobs
• offer training and education
• has invested $1.5 billion in Russian economy
• run community schemes

Negative of CC in host countries:

• low paid jobs in tough conditions
• footloose capitalism - when wages rise they move operations to a lower cost area
• environmental problems ie. degradation
• profits are returned to source country
• to date there have been 179 human rights violations of workers

There are many advantages to being a TNC:

• monopoly power
• access to larger markets
• economies of scale
• offered incentives to invest in certain countries

LDC - Uganda Case Study

An LDC is defined as a lesser developed economy. They are a grouping of nations that are most impoverished and vulnerable. They follow 3 criteria:

1. low income - under $750 GNI per capita
2. Low human capital - low levels of nutrition, health and education
3. economic vulnerability - instability of agriculture, imports and exports etc.

Uganda:

• Very reliant on exports of coffee and tea so very risky as commodity prices vary greatly so risky for economy.
• Huge debt from spending on weapons due to military regime in 1970.
• High IMR: 85/1000
• 75% of population without electricity
• GDP per capita only $571 (under $750 to qualify as LDC)

How are Uganda trying to develop:

• focusing on developing infrastructure. communications and roads etc.
• service sector jobs are developing in Kampala (capital)
• wildlife parks are starting to bring in money from tourism

Producer And Consumer Surplus

Producer surplus is the difference between what the producers are willing and able to supply and the price they actually receive.

• The producer surplus is shown as the area above the supply curve and below the market price. 
• The level of producer surplus can vary dependent on the shift in supply or demand. 

Consumer surplus is the difference between what you are willing and able to pay and what you actually pay.

• It is the area beneath the demand curve and above the market price. 
• It is a measure of welfare gain for people consuming the good/service
• Consumer surplus varies on the elasticity of demand. When the price is perfectly elastic the price they are willing to pay is the price they actually pay, therefore consumer surplus is 0 and vice versa when demand is perfectly inelastic.
• Consumer surplus also can vary dependent on shifts in supply and demand. Example a higher supply leads to a higher price and therefore a fall in consumer price.

When put together the surpluses look like this.

Aid Case Studies - Haiti, Akosombo Dam and Farm Africa

Aid given to Haiti following the disastrous 7.0 earthquake in 2010 was an example of short term aid. Aid given following an event or natural disaster.

• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and has the highest incidence of aid outside of Africa
• It was estimated 320,000 people died and 1 million left homeless
• Schools, businesses and homes were destroyed

Overall there was $9 billion dollars in aid given. However as you can see in the diagram very little of that money has reached communities and organizations, with only 0.6% of it going to Haitian organizations and 9.6% staying with the government. This is a good example of one of the main problems with aid, corruption.
On January 13th American Red Cross announced they had run out of supplies and started to appeal for public donations.
Initially the was piling up at the airport as the logistics were not in place, a common characteristic of an LEDC, water and food took days to arrive.
However some of the aid is now trickling through to the people as the Haitian government has helped over 50,000 people back into sub standard housing (50,000 out of 1 million is still not a lot!) Other improvements include river bank strengthening and tree planting along with rising school attendances. There is a new state of the art hospital that has contributed to the increased life expectancy in Haiti compared to 10 years ago. British red cross have given 26 local businesses loans of £9000 in order to kick start their businesses to try and boost the economy.
Overall the aid has not worked, this is shown in the house building project that spent far too much on houses and cut its goal of god standard houses from 15,000 to 2500 and only 900 have been built so far. it is very hard to track down where the aid has been spent as there is no transparency in the government.

An example of a top down scheme is the Akosombo Dam in Ghana.
A top down scheme is when money is given to a body who directs the money from the top. This strategy did not work as the dam was meant encourage new industries and stimulate agricultural growth however all it did was make 80,000 people homeless and not make enough energy in order to provide rural villages with energy.  It has also hindered transportations. However it has boosted fishing...

An example of a bottom up scheme is Farm Africa in Tanzania.
Tanzanian people mainly live in rural areas where food security is very low and improved and sustained agriculture is crucial for reducing poverty levels. This grassroots initiative worked closely with local communities. In partnership with the government they teach young children farming skills in order to share with their families and therefore improve productivity. They are also turning traditional activities such as honey making into a way to make money. This bottom up scheme has helped the people who need it and provided them with life long skills.

Urban Regeneration - Gentrification + Notting Hill Case Study

Gentrification is the renewal of an area by wealthy individuals
It is common that wealthy people buy a house in an area and decide to do it up. Others do the same and then the area experiences a snowball effect.

Case Study - Notting Hill
During the 1950's Notting Hill was experiencing inner city deprivation, race riots and a high Afro Caribbean population.
During the last 30 years due to its ideal location in central London, wealthy business men have moved in and renovated houses on an individual scale. The movie Notting Hill helped raise popularity for the area.
Today the area is a fashionable places with very high house prices. It has one of the world's most famous markets 'Portabello market'. It is also home to the 2nd largest street festival behind Rio, 'Notting Hill carnival'. Many upmarket services have moved to the area so they can cater for the wealthy individuals who live there.
Effects of the gentrification include:

• stabilisation of a declining community
• reduced vacancy rates
• an increase in property values
• however there has been displacement of locals
• also conflict and resentment between the old and new residents

Urban Regeneration - Partnership Schemes

Partnership schemes are between local and national governments and the private sector. City challenge, prestige/flagship projects and sustainable communities come under the bracket of partnership schemes.

City Challenge is an initiative where local authorities compete against each other in order to gain funding for the project. As opposed to other schemes CC focuses equally on buildings, people and values. Each different City challenge has slight different aims specific for the area, for example in Liverpool it was aimed at environmental improvement and in Hulme housing was the main focus.

Hulme City Challenge Partnership
In the 1960's many high rise flats were built in a slum clearance programme. These flats had poor design features and there was a high number of single person households. There was evidence that the local authority used the area to dump some of its unfortunate residents. Redevlopment occured in 1992 when the plans were drawn up. The redevlopment cost £37.5 million.

• 3000 new homes were built
• new shopping centres including an ASDA
• new community facilities
• improved infrastructure

As a result crime has been greatly reduced and there is a more cultural mix of people living in the area. A symbol of the regeneration is the Hulme Arch.

Prestige project developments

These include waterfront developments, for example those in Cardiff Bay. They involve the creation of innovative and stand out projects

Sustainable Communities

An initiative put in place by labour government in 2000. They are defined as places people want to work and live now and in the future. They are sensitive to the environment and contribute to a high quality of life. 

Urban Regeneration - Property Led Regeneration, London Docklands Case Study

Urban Regeneration is the recreation or improvement of an area experiencing urban decline.
The main types of urban regeneration are:

• Property led regeneration - large scale investment programs ie. London Docklands
• Partnership schemes (City Challenge) - Schemes between local and national government. (Imaginative local projects that aid regeneration bid against each other for funding from the government) 
• flagship projects - a significant, high profile investment that will become a catalyst for regeneration
• sustainable communities - places where people want to work and live now and in the future ie. BedZed, London
• Gentrification - the process of which run down housing is done up by wealthy individuals and a snowball effect occurs.

Property Led Regeneration - London Docklands

Urban development corporations (UDCs) was a scheme set up in the 80's that would aid in regeneration. These huge scale schemes completely redevelop areas with the goal of lifting an area out of urban decline. They have power above the local authorities and focus on the physical, social and economic regeneration. An example of a UDC is the LDDC (London docklands development corporation) set up in 1981. 

During the 19th century the London Docklands was one of the busiest places in the world. It was home to one of the main ports. However by the end of the 1950's the area had seen massive levels of urban decline, this was due to:

1. Increase in ship size meant they could no longer fit ships down the river Thames to the Isle Of Dogs.
2. Containerization caused structural unemployment as fewer dockers were needed.
3. Damage from the war

The area became derelict and run down, there was an increase in unemployment and there was a lack of public transport. By 1981 80% of people were living in poor quality housing and people were also leaving the area with on average a decline of 30% of the population.

In 1981 the LDDC was set up in order to reverse the decline and regenerate the area. It has resulted in major developments in and around canary wharf. They attracted £10 of private investment for every £1 they spent. The area became the first enterprise zone and overall there was £7.7 billion of private investment and that is still increasing. The regeneration has had many positive benefits that include:

• Social - 120,000 new jobs created
• Social - 8000 homes refurbished and 25,000 new homes
• Social - New national indoor sports centre
• Economic - Unemployment went from 14% to 7%
• Economic - Canary Wharf is now one of main financial centres in the world and attracts lots of FDI
• Environmental - 160,000 new trees planted
• Environmental - network of pedestrian and cycle routes

Successes of the LDDC:

There was a clear increase in trade for the local shopkeepers as more people have job and therefore more people can spend on the economy, this boosts the local economy even more (multiplier effect). Lots of FDI from new buildings and projects. A wide range of benefits (see above).

However there have been criticisms of the developments:

• many locals have been displaced and cannot afford to live in the area anymore
• structural unemployment from the old dockers who are unable to work in skilled jobs
• reduction in community spirit, tensions between newcomers and old eastenders.

Overall I think it is fair to say that the regeneration has been a success. 

Growth Of The BRICS

Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa?

Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill predicted in 2003 the BRIC economies would, by 2050, be wealthier that most of the current major economic powerhouses. In 2012 South Africa joined therefore making the BRIC the BRICS. It is predicted that China and India will become the dominant forces in manufactured gods and services while Russia and Brazil will become the dominant suppliers of raw materials.

These 4 countries are the fastest growing and largest emerging market economies and account for just under half of the world's population. It is believed that China will become the biggest economy in the world sometime between 2030 and 2050 because as discussed in another post they have averaged 10% growth for the last 3 decades.

However they have experienced problems and are likely to run into problems in the future that include:

• Russia face political problems which in turn will cause economic problems for example exports to Russia have fallen sharply, they also rely too heavily upon oil (we have seen lately the huge decline in oil prices that will have an effect on Russian economy)
• India suffer from corruption and also an increasing current account deficit
• Brazil's economic growth has plunged from 7.5% to 0.9% in 2010 to 2012. 
• All growth figures and prospects will have been affected by the financial crisis

Goldman Sachs projected growth

The Globalization Of Services

Many refer to the globalization of services as the second wave of globalization.
Services include things like call centres, advertising companies, financial services etc.
Originally the offshore outsourced work were basic goods manufacturing tasks that were repetitive and uncomplicated, now with the globalization of services it is off-shoring more specialized tasks, not only call centres but examples include legal firms off shoring litigation and patent research.
In recent years the most popular destination for outsourcing services has been India, in particular the state of Karnataka where Bangalore is situated, it is referred to as India's 'silicon valley'. Behind India in the GSLI are other emerging countries such as china and malaysia. The GSLI ranks countries that are the best destinations for outsourcing goods to based on factors such as people skills and costs.

Case Study: INDIA - Karnataka

India is top of the GSLI, although the capital is New Delhi, it is Bangalore located in Karnataka that is the most important IT centre. There is a population of 8.4 million in Bangalore and is referred to as the 'silicon valley' of India. The service sectors contribution to GDP has increased from 15% in 1950 to over 50% now. India is a very attractive place to outsource services due to many factors:

• 2nd largest English speaking population in the world
• low cost but high quality and adaptable workforce
• investment-friendly and supportive government policies
• 3rd largest brain bank in the world - around 2.5 million technical professionals
• well developed infrastructure and communications

Karnataka has historically been a place for technology and R&D based institutions. It was the first state to set up engineering colleges and a university of technology. Other things giving Bangalore a competitive advantage include:

• Best telecoms infrastructure in country due to existing technlogy parks such as Myosore and Hubli. 
• A specialized industrial park, Electronic City, has been built and spreads over 1.3 KM^2. 
• technology universities

Bangalore has experienced growth of around 10% per annum and now has India's third highest GDP per capita. This is due to domestic investment such as the opening of an airport in 2008 but also the influx of FDI from countries such as HSBC, Google and Yahoo. 

However, despite its attractiveness India faces many future problems in maintaining its position. These include:

• Competitions from cheaper places such as Vietnam and Phillipines
• Wages are rising and so are other costs like rent, there is inflation
• Many firms are moving call centres back to the UK due to customer complaints.

Income Elasticity Of Demand

YED = Income Elasticity Of Demand

Income elasticity of demand is the responsiveness in demand for a good when there is a change in income levels

Inferior good

YED = % change in quantity / % change in income

If 0-1 then it is inelastic. If it is 1+ then it is elastic.

If the answer is negative (-) then the good is an inferior good. An inferior god is one that as income decreases then demand increases. An example of this could be Tesco value goods.

If the answer is positive (+) then the good is a normal good. A normal good is one when when income rises so does the demand for the product. For example trainers.

Normal good

Cross Elasticity Of Demand

XED - Cross Elasticity Of Demand

XED is the responsiveness of demand for one product following the change in price for another

XED = % change in quantity demand for good B / % change in price of good A

If 0-1 then it is inelastic. If 1+ then it is elastic.

If the number is negative (-) then the two goods are complements. Complements are two goods that go with each other, for example, If the price of a cinema ticket increases then the demand for popcorn will decrease. 

If the number is positive (+) then the goods are substitutes. This means you have one or the other. For example chicken or lamb, if the price of lamb goes up then the demand for chicken will increase. You can have weak and strong substitutes, a strong substitute would be dairy milk or galaxy therefore they will have a high XED.

Ways of lowering XED include branding and differentiating your product therefore there will be less substitutes and you can charge a higher price.

Price Elasticity Of Supply

PES = Price Elasticity of supply

Price elasticity of supply is the responsiveness of supply to a change in price.

PES = % change in quantity supplied / % change in price

If it is between 0-1 then it is inelastic and if its 1+ then it is elastic.

The graph on the right is inelastic supply and the one on the left is elastic.
If it is elastic then the producers are able to increase supply without a rise in cost or time delay.
If inelastic then producers find it hard to change level of supply in a given time period.

What determines whether it is inelastic or elastic?

• Level of spare capacity - if there is lots of spare capacity then the supply curve is elastic as they are able to supply more easily
• State of economy - if economy is in good state then it will be elastic
• Perishability - If a good is hard to store ie. flowers then the supply curve will be inelastic, if it is easy to store then it will be elastic
• Time period - if it is a short time period PES will be inelastic as it is hard to increase output with short notice.

Price Elasticity Of Demand - Economics Unit 1

PED - Price Elasticity of Demand

The responsiveness in quantity demanded for a good following a change in price of the good.

PED = % change in quantity demanded/ % change in price.

If the answer is between +/- 0-1 then the good is said to be inelastic. Examples of inelastic goods include cigarettes, petrol etc. (will go into detail why)

If the answer if +/- 1+ then the good is said to be elastic. Examples of elastic goods include sports cars.

If the PED = 1 then it is said to have unitary elasticity of demand, this means that a 10% change in price will cause a 10% change in demand.

If PED = 0 the good is perfectly inelastic, the demand curve would be horizontal.

If PED = infinity the good is perfectly elastic and the demand curve is vertical.
Factors that affect Price Elasticity Of Demand:

• Whether the good is a necessity or a luxury. If it is a necessary good then PED will be inelastic as a consumer is willing to pay whatever price for it. If it is a luxury then its PED will be elastic because they don't need it
• Availability of substitutes - If there are no substitutes, there is no competition therefore it is inelastic. If there are substitutes then its is elastic
• Addictiveness makes a good inelastic as thy will pay whatever for it. ie. Cigarettes
• Brand Loyalty
• Time frame - if you need a good today then you are more to pay whatever for it so it is inelastic
• % of income spent on good - if its a small percent of your income then it will be inelastic.

If PED is inelastic and and the price increases then total revenue (PxQ) will increase as you are selling at a higher price

If PED is elastic and the price decreases then total revenue (PxQ) increases as selling more at a lower price

Growth Of The Asian Tigers - Geography and Economics A-Level

The term Asian Tigers, refers to Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore an Hong Kong.

The term was becoming widely used in the 70s and 80s following the emergence of these four countries who all followed a similar pattern of development to becoming developed countries. These countries For example Singapore is now one of the world leading financial centres.

None of these countries had a rich supply of ntural resources. They followed a very export driven model of industrialization by focusing on selling to rich western countries such as the UK and USA. They decided that to boost the manufacturing industry they would have to tap in to economies of scale and therefore rely on international trade. In trading to a larger market they could improve efficiency through E.O.S. This model is different to conventional models of the time which involved imposing raised tariffs and quota on imports which reduced the number of imports and thus allowing the domestic industries to flourish and develop. Although the Asian Tigers did use this model at first before switching heavily to an export driven model.

These countries all had similar characteristics which included:

• GDP growth rate from 1960 to 2000 averaged 6% per year 
• abundance of cheap labour due to being poor in 1960
• all invested heavily in education, this can increase LRAS and increase productivity
• all had strong Chinese influences
• non democratic political systems meaning plans were driven through easily

But is this a good model to follow?

There are many criticisms of this export led model which include:

• dependency on other countries economic health can be very risky
• fast expansion of these countries caused problems such as a in 1990 many stock markets crashed and sparked a worldwide financial crisis
• Rapid industrialization has caused many environmental problems
• Lost competitive edge to India and China who can now create at cheaper unit costs. 

The new era of  Asian Tigers (Tiger Cubs)

It is said that Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are also following the export led growth model.

It is predicted that these 4 countries will be in the top 50 economies in the world by 2050.

Due to a high number of Chinese entrepreneurs and residents, the transformation of China has led to increased investment. 

Sustainable Tourism. Myth Or reality? - Geography A-Level

Sustainable tourism is defined as “tourism that respects both local people and the traveller, cultural heritage and the environment”. 
It is all about readapting the modern approaches to tourism. It involves tourism with a low impact on local culture and environment while creating jobs an income for the local area with the overall aim of conserving the local ecosystem.
Also commonly known as ecotourism.

Ways of creating sustainable tourism:

• Using renewable energy ie. solar power for heating (environmental)
• recycle rainwater (environmental)
• only use sustainable materials, ie. wood from sustainable woods (environmental)
• local food to reduce food miles (environmental)
• promote local culture (social)
• sell local products (social)
• reinvest some profits into local community (social)
• employ local residents (economic)
• be locally owned and not be a TNC (economic)
• only purchase local goods (economic)

Arguments against sustainable tourism:

• Without proper management can be harmful to environment. ie. If there are no roads then can degrade the land
• resentment of wealthy foreign visitors by locals leads to negative impact on local community
• can make area dependent on tourism
• when visitors increase then that equals more damage to environment
• resorts usually in remote locations therefore more travel to get there.

Case Study: Galapagos Islands.

Ecuadorian islands 1000km off of South America. 

Most famous for site of Charles Darwins' 'thoery of evoluton' where he studied that finches had different beaks dependent on different islands.

Approximately 90% of island is designated as national park

Population of 20,000

Became first UNESCO heritage site in 1979

Around 100,000 visitors a year.

The tourists who visit have to abide by strict rules:

• can only visit a limited number of places
• are all educated on conserving land
• pay £25 towards conservation of islands

Tourists generate a lot of business in area such as local guides, restaurants, hotels etc.

However due to growing demand for holidays there there are 5 flights a day that land on the islands and cruise ships stop off which harms the local marine life. There are still problems such as oil spills from boats, overuse of some sites (honeypot), and apart from tourism there are not many other employment opportunities. 

Boxing Day Tsunami Case Study - A2 Geography

Brief case study for plate tectonics unit 3 geography.

Background

• 26th December 2004
• 8.9 Richter scale earthquake in the Indian Ocean
• A result of the Indo-Australian plate being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate
• Waves reached 15m high in some places as they first reached the shore
• Hit Indonesia first
• Tsunami travelled at 800 Km/h

Impacts

• 250,000 dead
• 2 million homeless
• Lost lots of benefits from tourism, loss of businesses, unemployment and lack of infrastructure.

Christchurch Earthquake A2 Geography - MEDC Case Study

Background Info

• Located In New Zealand
• On the Pacific ring of fire
• Located on conservative plate margin a the Indo-Australian plate is moving past the Pacific plate.
• Original quake was on 4th September 2010 and the most destructive quake was on 22nd February 2011

The Earthquake

• 4th September earthquake measured 7.1 on richter scale and there were 361+ aftershocks in the first week
• 22nd February earthquake measured 6.3 on richter scale
• 22nd February had a very shallow focus of 5km deep
• Christchurch is above sedimentary rock which is prone to liquefaction and shaking

Impacts

Social

• 181 killed (80 from collapse of CTV tower)
• 80% of the city without power

Economic

• Increased unemployment
• lost benefits of hosting rugby world cup

Environmental

• Liquefaction
• Earth rose 1cm and moved closer to Sydney

Responses

• $6-7 million in aid
• A plan was devised within 2 hours
• Response centres were set up such as the Canterbury art gallery which is earthquake proof
• Temporary housing provided
• 6 months after the quake 80% of the roads had been repaired

Basics - Economics Unit 1

• Economics is how we allocate scarce resources to infinite wants and needs.
• The opportunity cost is the cost forgone from the next best alternative
• Specialisation is the division of labour, this can increase production, reduce average cost however problems include tedium
• Sustainable means meeting the needs of today without affecting the needs for future generations
• A positive statement is one that is a fact as opposed to a normative statement is one that is a value judgement, includes words like 'unfair'.
• scarcity means limited resources
• Factors of production are land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.
• A free market is one where there is no government intervention and left to the price mechanism. A mixed market economy is the most common where there is government intervention in certain markets. A planned economy is one where the government controls the resources ie. North Korea.
• PPFs show the trade off between 2 goods or services. The opportunity cost changes because it is not a straight line but a curve. A shift of the PPF outwards shows an increase in the productive potential. Can be caused by new technologies or a discovery of new resources ie. new oil field.

Demand - Economics Unit 1

Demand Curve 

• If price goes down, demand goes up and vice versa.
• A change is the price of the product is a movement along the curve from £0.50 to £0.20 shown in the change in demand from 100 to 400.
• Total revenue is PxQ. In example, the total revenue when the price is at £0.50 would be £50 and the total revenue when the price is £0.20 is £80
• When you move along the curve it is either an extension (price fall and extension in demand) or a contraction (price rise and fall in contraction in demand). 

What can cause a shift in demand?

• advertising
• branding
• public relations good or bad
• population growth
• tastes/preferences
• tax
• income
• a change in the price of substitutes (pork or lamb) or change in price of complement (port and apple sauce)

Supply - Economics Unit 1

• Supply of a good is upward sloping - as the price increases the supply increases as the suppliers are willing to supply more.
• A change of price is shown as a movement along the curve.
• A contraction is a decrease in price and an extension is an increase in price.

Factors that shift supply

• Subsidies
• Infrastructure
• Better technology
• Natural disasters
• Weather

Equilibrium - Economics Unit 1

Equilibrium is where the market clears, this means that everything bought to market is sold.

• Where supply and demand intersect

• Excess supply is where supply is greater than demand, this usually causes a cut in price as it moves back to equilibrium.

• Likewise, excess demand is where demand for a product is greater than the supply of the good, this usually causes a price rise.

Measuring Development - Development and Globalisation Geography unit 3 A2

There are many ways of measuring development, all have their positives and negatives.

GDP - Gross Domestic Product is the total output of an economy.

• Does not take into account inequality
• Nor informal employment
• Very hard to measure with black markets etc.

GNP - Gross National Product is the GDP plus net income from domestic businesses abroad.

• Same drawbacks to GDP
• Doesn't take into account environmental, social development only assumes them

HDI - Human Development Index is an indicator that uses education (literacy rates), health (life expectancy) and living standards (GNP per capita)

• Doesn't take into account environment
• No indicator of distribution
• Doesn't take into account corruption or political freedom

PQLI - physical quality of life index takes into account literacy rate, infant mortaty rate and life expectancy.

• many factors ignored such as political freedom
• economic growth/incomes
• infrastructure

Others

• HPI - happy planet index takes into account ecology, life expectanccy and life satisfaction
• Life expectancy
• Number of mobile phones per 1000 people

All indicators have their positives and negatives but the main problem with them is that they focus on certain aspects of development and not others therefore countries may not rank highly on one but rank highly on another. However the most common is HDI which has rankings, Norway are currently top with 0.944.

Trade and Aid - Economics/Geography A2 level

Aid and Trade are 2 ways to promote growth and development in an economy.

Trade helps an economy because it improves the volume and quantity of exports. This in theory will turn into jobs and improved living standards. Hopefully some of this income will be saved and therefore boost demand in the economy (hopefully include multiplier effect) and start developing as a country. Trade also creates long term jobs which is key for sustained growth. According to the Rostow Model this will push the country past the traditional sector and into the preconditions for take off or take off. I will go into detail on in a different post.
This theory is very simplified and  assumes developing countries all follow the same stages as the now developed European countries the theory was based on. Trade can increase inequality as it is the owners of the firms who keep the money and do as they please with it. Another problem with trade comes about when you are outside of a trading bloc and have to pay an external tariff to trade with countries inside. This prevents many of the lower developed African countries trading with the developed western countries.

One of the main barriers to growth is the savings gap, the difference between the money that is earned and the amount of money that can be saved and thus invested. Due to a high propensity to consume in poorer countries, finding money to save is difficult and thus investment is difficult.

Aid is a useful way of overcoming that savings gap. Aid can come in many forms:

• Bilateral aid - Aid from one country to another
• Multilateral aid - Aid that comes from multiple countries through an international agency such as the World Bank
• NGOs - Non governmental organisations such as Oxfam provide money and professional support This type of aid is unlikely to come with any conditions like the others

Aid can come in the forms of money or in the form of technical assistance in order to create infrastructure or to help boost certain industries. There are many problems with aid that include:

• Can come with tied conditions such as having to buy from the donor country
• Can lead to aid dependency 
• Corruption can cause the aid to never be distributed evenly or where needed.
• Can led to distorted market forces

As mentioned earlier you can get aid in different forms: 

• Tied aid - aid that comes with conditions
• Short term aid - usually comes after a natural disaster
• Long term aid- aid for long term developments such as the improvement of hospitals or infrastructure
• Top down aid - aid given to organizations for large scale projects such as dam building
• Bottom up aid - schemes at grassroots level, often by NGOs working with local communities.

So which is better, aid or trade?
I believe trade is greater than aid when it comes to helping a country to develop. Over the past 50 years Africa has received $500 billion in aid and despite this the continent still suffers from poverty, disease and corruption. Aid is not usually aid as it is usually tied to conditions such as buying from donor country. Aid also creates dependency which is not sustainable compared to growth because as a country increases trade it increases jobs and wealth in a way that they are not totally dependant on aid from other countries. However many developed countries have protectionist measures that prevent trade with developing countries as they would have to pay high taxes. But before a country can truly develop it needs to eliminate any major health problems such as HIV or malaria.

Motives Of Firms - Economics Unit 3

Motives of a firm to grow include:

• Profit
• Risk Bearing
• Market Share
• New opportunities
• Managerial ambitions
• Economies of Scale
• Satisfiscing - After achieving minimum acceptable profit for shareholders the firm pursues another objective.

Growth can be either horizontal (same stage of production), vertical (different stage of production) or conglomerate (different sector). Both vertical and horizontal growth can be forwards or backwards.

Methods of growth:

• Takeover - a firm takes control of another can be hostile or friendly
• Merger - when two firms decide to share stakes in a company as they join together
• Internal growth - from the inside of the company, can be in the form of an entrepreneur
• External growth - from a merger of a takeover
• joint venture - when two companies agree to work together in order to create a product

Why do companies stay small?

• Barriers such as price, legal or marketing 
• Lack of resources
• Lack of ambition
• Diseconomies of scale

Why do firms break up?

• Government intervention
• Diseconomies of scale
• Over extended

Montserrat Case Study A2 Geography - LEDC Volcano

Background Info

• Soufriere Hills is located in Montserrat, a small Caribbean island close to Antigua. 
• 7 miles wide and 12 miles long. 
• Population of 5,900 (2008). 
• Categorized as a Less Economically Developed Country.
• English territory
• Geographically it is located where the North and South American plate boundaries are being subducted beneath the Caribbean Plate creating the Puerto Rico trench therefore it is classified as a Destructive Plate Boundary.

The Volcano

• Composite volcano, made up of layers of ash and andesitic lava.
• It had been showing signs since 1995 when it erupted for the first time in 350 years. 
• A lava dome then built up and when it collapsed on 25th June 1997 it caused a pyroclastic flow measuring up to 120 km/h and 600 degrees. 

Impacts

Social

• 19 dead
• 5,000 in temporary shelters
• 50% of population were evacuated to the north
• Many school and hospitals destroyed
• Airport and port closed

Economic

• Unemployment rose from 7% to 50%
• 7000 people left the island which left a skills shortage
• The capital Plymouth became a ghost town

Environmental

• South of the island's soil was scorched and cannot be used
• Forest fires burnt down trees
• Floods s valleys were blocked with ash

Responses

• Exclusion zone set up in south of the island
• UK gave £41 million in aid
• £2400 given to each citizen in order to relocate
• Emergency investments in order to ensure essentials such as sanitation were available
• After the first signs in 1995 the MVO (Montserrat Volcano Observatory) was set up and staffed by scientists in order to monitor volcanic activity and it associated hazards.