CHAPTER 7.1 & 7.2 REVIEW

FREE MARKET ECONOMY

Free Market: allows people the freedom to own, operate, and profit from their own business

Pros: Businesses can hire employees & pay them Laws protect private property rights, employment

opportunities & the health and safety of workers USA & Canada are both post-industrial societies,

which places an emphasis on service & high tech businesses rather than industry & manufacturing DTM: Stage 4 Overall trend: agriculture industry services

UNITED STATES VS. CANADA

USA Mostly, the

government does not interfere

Private organizations handle services Broadcasting regulated

by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) but companies like ABC, CBS are privately owned

People choose health care plans---but are now required to have it

Canada SOME government

interference! Government owns

and administers more services than the USA

Health care is publicly funded, not privately CBC: Canadian

Broadcasting Corporation—owned by the government

USE OF AGRICULTURE

Overall trend: Focus on businesses & services!

Still, use of agriculture is seen in both countries

Characteristics: Commercial Farming, but usually with family-

owned businesses Use of co-ops Largely used as cropland & for livestock to graze

Canada has less arable (fertile) land to use for farming than the USA, but both countries still dedicate many acres for farming

WHY ARE THE NUMBER OF FARMERS DECREASING???

High cost of farming Have to use expensive machinery, fertilizers, and

chemical pesticides Unpredictable consumer demand

We don’t know what people want, and our ENTIRE economy depends on supply & demand.

If people don’t want a product, farmers could lose money

Risk of natural disasters Time-consuming VERY hard, physical work

KEY AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

The US & Canada lead in the production of… Beef Eggs Milk Corn Wheat

All of these products are shipped within the country and around the world!

THE WHEAT BELT Wheat Belt = prairie

provinces of Canada & Great Plains of the USA

Type of wheat grown depends on climate Northern plains: shorter

growing season & cooler climate spring wheat (planted in the spring, harvested in the fall)

Southern areas: winter wheat (early summer harvest)

TECHNOLOGY HELPS BREAK GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS!

Cattle ranching was restricted to wide-open spaces

Dairy farms were mainly in “America’s Dairyland” (NY state to Minnesota)

Development of new breeds of cattle that need less room to moove

expansion of dairy farms and cattle ranches

Before Technology After Technology

MANUFACTURING & SERVICES

Manufacturing makes up 20% of the economies of the US & Canada and employs 20% of the workforce

Technology has allowed greater quantities of goods with less workers than in the past

Exports: Transportation equipment & machinery are large

exports for both the US & Canada Other major exports:

Aerospace and aircraft equipment (USA) Automobiles (USA mainly, but also Canada) Food processing (USA) Wood-based products (Canada—Quebec in particular)

MANUFACTURING & SERVICES

75% of workers are employed in the service (TERTIARY!!) industry! Government workers Education Health care Tourism Real Estate Banking Entertainment

Both countries are considered to be post-industrial!

MANUFACTURING & SERVICE

High-tech industry is VERY important to the economies of the US & Canada Used for computer science &

telecommunications USA Leaders

California: Silicon Valley is home to 100 of the largest high-tech companies (including Apple & Facebook!)

Seattle, Washington: leads the high-tech business in Washington state, which has the sixth-highest concentration of high-tech businesses in the USA

Texas: 1,000+ software companies in AUSTIN! (including Dell in Round Rock, TX). Also, some fast-growing technology businesses are found in Dallas

“RETOOLING” THE RUST BELT

Rust Belt: older, industrial areas around the Great Lakes whose mills were abandoned when companies moved south towards the Sunbelt Example cities—Buffalo, Pittsburgh. Happened in the last third of the 1900s (around

1969-1999)

Now, these cities are being turned from abandoned mills into tourist areas and public spaces in an effort to bring some new life to the cities

TRANSPORTATION

Both US & Canada has had a heavy reliance on automobiles since WWII

Challenges: Building &

maintenance of highways, roads & bridges $$$$$$$$$

Increased pollution from the use of cars, especially in urban areas

Traffic jams!

TRANSPORTATION

Cities have tried or are making plans to come up with new modes of transportation: Subway systems in NYC, San Francisco, Montreal Seattle, Dallas, Houston use monorail systems Chicago, Washington, DC have commuter trains Atlanta & Chicago also are two of the busiest

airports in the world—Atlanta Hartsfield & Chicago O’Hare

Also applies to the movement of GOODS! Pipelines--long networks of underground or

aboveground pipes—are used to carry ¼ of the region’s freight in oil & gas

COMMUNICATION

Telephone & Internet services are the primary means of communication …I know what your textbook says, but it was written in 2002,

before social media like Facebook and Twitter (even MySpace) Computers are available for MOST people in the US & Canada,

but there is still concern over the affordability of these services.

Canada’s broadcasting & phone services are owned by the government (public service—TAXE$)

USA: services are owned by private businesses Government makes sure there is no monopoly, or

the total control of industry by ONE person or company

TRADE & INTERDEPENDENCE: US & CANADA ARE POWERFUL!

The US is #2 in all world exports, provides 10%+ of all world exports chemicals, agricultural & manufactured goods, and

raw materials (metals, iron ore) are exported—also software!

TRADE & INTERDEPENDENCE the US has a trade DEFICIT

because we rely more on imports (what we buy) than exports (what we sell)

Why?? US has a large population

(#3 in the world!) Growing industries more

energy sources, mainly oil/petroleum from the Middle East!

Other countries charge tariffs on imports, which raises the prices of our products and reducing our sales

Canada has a trade SURPLUS & earns more from exports than it spends Why??

Canada has a much smaller population because of it’s harsh climate

Energy costs are less BECAUSE of this smaller population

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement Created in 1994 US, Canada & Mexico can trade goods freely—no

restrictions! Is different from the EU because PEOPLE are

still not allowed to flow freely you still need a passport to get into Canada &

Mexico! One effect: OUTSOURCING!

US businesses are building factories in Mexico cheaper labor, cheaper goods for Americans, saves $$

PEOPLE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT (7.2)

HUMAN IMPACT

The US & Canada has abundant natural resources, but not always used responsibly Clear-cutting: taking out whole forests while

harvesting timber endangers wildlife Leaves land subject to flooding & erosion

Overfishing Control burns used to clear dry brush before

it becomes too dense Too much brush = soil and vegetation dry out

POLLUTION RATES HIGHER WITH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

Acid rainfall: pollution (CO2) mixes with rainfall (H2O) corrosion of stone and metal buildings Weathering or Erosion?? Chemical or Physical? Chemicals are picked up and moved away; mixes

with rainfall & acid rain is found in the Adirondack Mountains (NY) and in the eastern provinces of Quebec

POLLUTION RATES HIGHER WITH INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

Smog Sun’s rays + automobile exhaust gases &

industrial emissions = haze How to reduce?

Health officials monitor air quality, urge people with respiratory problems to stay indoors

Restrictions on driving, other uses of gas-based tools prohibited and/or restricted

Fuel pumps also have special nozzles to reduce the amount of vapors leaking from gas pumps

New cars that run on electricity, not gas Encourage the use of walking, biking, or using public

transportation to get to destinations

WATER SYSTEMS = POLLUTED AS WELL

How? Acid rainfall Introduction of sewage, industrial, and

agricultural wastes into the water supplies Effects

Can endanger wildlife and humans if water is infected with bacteria

Speeds up eutrophication (the process of a lake or body of water becoming rich

in dissolved nutrients, encouraging overgrowth of plants and basically making it unusable

GLOBAL WARMING…? People in the US & Canada worry over the

unexplained rise in overall global temperatures Effects:

Inuit Communities Thinning sea ice hunted animals (caribou, polar bears &

seals) to move further north hunting lifestyle challenged Permafrost is beginning to thaw, making the land more

unsteady for the foundations of building houses New Orleans

Below sea level Fear that the area could be completely submerged

underwater because of rising ocean levels & more frequent flooding of the Mississippi River

Climate Patterns Warmer, higher seas more frequent, severe weather

events (El Nino, major hurricanes)