Economic Geography

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Economic Geography

• Economic Unions SOL WG.9d

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Economic Unions

• Examples of economic unions
• EU - European Union
• NAFTA - North American Free Trade Agreement
• ASEAN - Association of Southeast Asian Nations
• OPEC - Organization of Petroleum Exporting
  Countries

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European Union

• The European Union is an economic union in
  Europe. Most countries in Europe are members of
  the EU. Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland did not
  join the EU.
• One goal of the EU is to create a common market
  by getting rid of tariffs, improving
  transportation networks, introducing one
  currency, and making it easier for people to
  travel between countries.

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European Union
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Euro
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Euro
Blue Area where euro is used Red Other eu
members
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NAFTA

• The North American Free Trade Agreement is a
  trade agreement between Canada, the United
  States, and Mexico. NAFTA has eliminated tariffs
  between these three countries, which means there
  is no tax on imported goods.

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NAFTA

• Some negative impacts of NAFTA are
• The price of food increased in Mexico due to
  cheap imported food from U.S. agribusiness.
• U.S. manufacturing workers lost jobs because many
  factories moved to Mexico.
• Large factories called maquiladoras operate on
  the Mexican side of the border and they often
  mistreat workers and pay low wages.

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ASEAN

• ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian
  Nations.
• ASEAN has ten members Brunei, Vietnam, Laos,
  Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore,
  Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar (Burma).
• ASEAN has many goals but it has reduced or
  eliminated tariffs between most of the members.

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ASEAN
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ASEAN
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OPEC

• OPEC stands for Organization of Petroleum
  Exporting Countries. The members of this
  organization set the price and production of oil.
• Most of the members of OPEC are in the Middle
  East, but Venezuela, Nigeria, and Indonesia are
  also members.
• Not every country that has oil is a member of
  OPEC. Russia and the U.S. are not members.

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OPEC
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Advantages of Unions

• More efficient industries
• Access to larger markets
• Access to natural, human, and capital resources
  without restrictions
• Greater influence on world market

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Disadvantages of Unions

• Closing of some industries
• Concentration of some industries in certain
  countries
• Agribusiness replacing family farms
• Difficulty in agreeing on common economic policies

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Agribusiness

• Agribusiness refers to large scale farming done
  by businesses. Agribusiness operations typically
  cultivate thousands of acres of land or raise
  thousands of animals at a time and they are
  integrated with the processing and distribution
  networks.