Tag: globalisation

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The globalisation of labour

The UK and global labour markets are changing significantly. In the UK we have faced a level of immigration of around 500 – 600 thousand people (the government does not know the exact figure), while in the global economy the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated in its latest World Economic Outlook that the global labour force has quadrupled in the last quarter of a century. So what is the impact on the UK labour market? Many assume that the effect is negative, but as is always the way with these things, you will find plenty of economists who will argue the opposite. The article below from the Times Online looks at these national and global issues.

Workers count cost of a global labour flood Times Online (29/4/07)
Migrants create job market slack Times Online (20/5/07)


Questions
1. Using diagrams as appropriate assess the impact of recent immigration on the UK labour market.
2. Discuss the extent to which changes in the global labour force and UK immigration have affected the level of wages in the UK labour market.
3. Discuss the extent to which the global labour force is likely to change in the next decade.
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The west fails to deliver on aid

The United Nations has set a target for developed countries to donate 0.7% of their GDP to poor nations. However, the average figure is just 0.33% for the developed world and according to a recent OECD report many nations are set to miss this target if they fail to boost aid spending significantly. Indeed, only a few countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – are currently meeting this target.

West set to fail aid targets, OECD says Guardian(22/2/07)

Questions

1. Explain what is meant by ‘official development assistance’.
2. Discuss the likely impact on the developing world of a failure to meet the aid targets set by the United Nations.
3. Assess the extent to which developing countries are likely to gain from globalisation.