Learning Objectives

1) How do we measure development? 2) What are the political groupings of nations?3) What are the economic groupings of nations?4) What differences in wealth and power exist?

Lesson 9 – Global Groupings

Measuring development• There are different ways of measuring

development.

• Traditionally this was done by looking at a countries GDP.

• However this no longer works. The distribution of people living in poverty, as well as elite groups, has become more complex in the era of globalisation.

Economic Indicators• Economic indicators focus on the wealth of a country. To standardise them they are measured in US dollars

Human Indicators

•Human development indicators are used to assess the well-being of a nations’ people.

Your Task (5 minutes)1. Complete indicator match worksheet

Card Sort

2. Match the development indicators with their definitions.

3. In a table, sort these development indicators into either Economic Indicators or Human development indicators.

• Gross National Product – the value of all the goods and services earned by a country including companies working abroad.

• Gross Domestic Product – the value of all the goods and services earned by a country excluding foreign earnings.

• Per capita – statistics providing an average per person

• Purchasing Power Parity – relates average earnings to prices and what they will actually buy you.

• Physical quality of life index – made up of life expectancy, literacy rates and infant mortality.

• Human development Index – made up of life expectancy, literacy rates, infant mortality and also school enrolment.

• Human suffering index – made up of daily calorie intake, access to clean water, inflation rate, access to communications, political freedom and civil rights.

Economic Indicators Human development Indicators

Global disparities• There are great differences in wealth in

the world both between and within them countries.

• In recent years these differences have increased.

• This ‘development gap’ can be attributed to globalisation, with the rich getting richer, whilst the poor get poorer.

Global Groupings• Geographers use two types of

grouping to study nations in a global context.

• These are Economic Groupings and Political Groupings.

Economic groupings

• What are LDCs?

• What are NICs?

• What are Ex-Soviet States?

• What are OPEC members?

• What are OECD countries?

Page 99

Political GroupingsCountries, usually at similar development levels and in the same part of the world, agree to form trade blocs by signing international agreements.

These allow for tariff- and quota-free trade.

The World Trade Organization works to increase free trade between blocs.

Political groupings (Trade Blocs)• Trade blocs differ from economic groupings in

two important ways:

1. To trade freely, agreements have to be drawn up which allow national boundaries to be crossed by goods, money and sometimes workers – this requires an amendment of national laws (political)

2. Trade blocs can contain countries at different levels of development – this allows for a ‘Spatial division of labour.’

Selected regional trade bloc groupings

Define the following terms:

• Development gap• GDP• HDI• Poverty• Petrodollars• Spatial division of labour• Assembly Industries• TNC

Learning Objectives

1) How do we measure development? 2) What are the political groupings of nations?3) What are the economic groupings of nations?4) What differences in wealth and power exist?

Lesson 9 – Global Groupings

• Jan 2011

• 9b) Using examples, examine how nations are classified into different types of groupings (15)