Burlington High School
Burlington Kansas
Teacher: Devra Parker
Economics in the World Today
Lucas Nelson
12th grade
In the world today there are many different types of economic systems. There is the Free, Mostly Free, Mostly Un-free and Repressed economies. Four countries that I have chosen are the Netherlands, Norway, North Korea, and Namibia. Since there are so many different countries, it is obvious why there are so many different types of economies. That means that since they have different economies that it is up to them on how well their country does.
The Netherlands and Norway are similar in that they are both in the EU (European Union). They also both have high exports in petroleum, and they both strive at farming and raising cattle. Things they differ in are that Norway has an abundance of natural resources and the Netherlands is lacking in the natural resource sector.
The Netherlands is an economically free country. It has a heavily industrialized economy. The chief manufactures are textiles, electrical machinery, electronics, transport equipment, iron and steel, refined petroleum, ships, processed foods, plastics, and chemicals. Agriculture is very efficient and yields per acre are high. Their diary farming is extremely productive, and the country is known for its cheese industries. Most of their wealth comes from financial and transportation services. They belong to the European Union and many other global economic organizations.
Norway is a mostly free economy. It is less then 4% cultivated and they have to import over 50% of all foods. The vast mountain surroundings are used for grazing sheep cattle, and in the North they raise reindeer. Their most important export is fish; they export all around the world. Its chief industries are petroleum and natural gas production, shipping, and trading. Almost all of their electricity is powered by hydroelectric power; they also export hydroelectricity. The chief trading partners are the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United States.
North Korea and Namibia are like and unlike in many ways; they have more unlike characteristics than they do like characteristics in that they have some economic similarities. They both are lacking in the agriculture part of their economic system and, if they could get that to be better, their economy would probably be better off than it is right now. Also, they both have terrible unemployment rates. Some difference would be that North Korea’s economy is struggling because of the war that happened in the 1950’s between America, South Korea, and obviously, North Korea. Namibia’s economy is struggling because of inadequate yearly rain fall. That definitely affects everything in the country of Namibia.
North Korea has a recessed economy. It has gone from being an agriculture society in 1946 to being very industrialized in the past years. The economy was greatly affected when the communist world fell in 1992. That is nothing compared to how bad the economy suffered after the Korean War. After the war paved roads were basically all wiped out and the railroad system had been nearly destroyed. Major North Korean products include iron, steel, and other metals; machinery; military products; textiles; and chemicals. A great variety of products are now manufactured; these include electrical and electronic equipment, steel, automobiles, chemicals, cement, ships, and ceramic goods. One of their main exports is weapons sales and drugs though not always stated, they are both a very big player in the eco system.
Namibia is a mostly un-free economy. It has a low agriculture- related economy due to inadequate rainfall. Goats and sheep are mainly raised in the South and they raise cattle in the North. The unemployment rate is way up and most of the land is to be handled by white male farmers. Namibia has a very extensive mining industry and is mainly run by foreign ownership. Their main export is gem-quality diamonds. They also have very important minerals these include uranium, copper, lead, gold, zinc, silver, tin, and tungsten. Unrestricted fishing has greatly depleted some of the different kinds of fish. The central part of the country is served by roads and rail lines that are linked with those of South Africa, its largest trading partner. Namibia is a member of the Southern African Development Community.
In conclusion, many countries have done very exceptional with the way they have ran their economy, but many have not at the same time. Out of all four countries, Norway has definitely done the best as far as handling their eco system to become the best that their country can be. Norway has also been successful with running their country, but they do have room to improve. North Korea by far has one the worst economies in the world. North Korea with a freer eco system, could possible become a major super power. Kim Jong Il has ruined that country and the only thing keeping them afloat is the mass production they have on military weapons (a major export for North Korea). Namibia has done alright they could do a ton better and, with a free economy, could become a sensible country.
Answers To Questions Prompted By The Required Reading
The
Benefits of Free Trade
Q1- Be the Devil's Advocate and counter Benjamin Franklin's statement that "No
nation was ever ruined by trade."
Trade
is bad for your local small businesses and could help control the rapid spread a
deadly dieses.
Q2- Name five countries whose ranking surprised you.
1. Hong Kong
2. United States
3. Japan
4. South Korea
5.
China
Q3- Write one sentence each to explain why you chose the countries you did in Q2.
Hong Kong- I picked Hong Kong because I thought it was a city in China.
United States- I picked them for number two because I figured that we would have the number one free economy system.
Japan- I figured that they would be under the mostly un-free category.
South Korea- Because I would think that they would also along with Japan they would be mostly un-free.
China- I thought that China
would be repressed since they are under a communist ruler.
Q4- The USA was not ranked first in any of the years exhibited online in the Annual Report nor in the 2005 Index. List the twelve countries that ranked higher on the Index and the countries that out ranked the USA in the eight Annual Reports.
1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore
3. Luxembourg
4. Estonia
5. Ireland
6. New Zealand
7. UK
8. Denmark
9. Iceland
10. Australia
11. Chile
12.
Switzerland
Q5- The Index uses 50 variables in 10 categories. The Report shows 21 variables in 5 categories and lists 24 sub-variables in its online charts.
As a class we looked into the ten categories, however we could not find enough exclusive evidence to fully answer the question.