UNIT 2: The market and globalization
The market: a definition
A market is a place where people buy and sell goods and services.
- Sellers (producers/ manufactures) offers products and services.
- Buyers (customers/ clients) purchase what they need.
The market works through the law of supply and demand:
- Supply is the quantity of goods and services sellers offer.
- Demand is the quantity of goods and services buyers want to buy.
Price influences what and how much people buy:
- Low prices usually increase sales
- High prices usually decrease sales.
This creates competition between sellers, who try to attract customers while still
making profit.
Globalization
The difference between goods and services
Goods
- you can see, touch and own them
- they are physical products (items like food, clothing, electronics…)
- when you buy a good, you own it
Services
- you can’t touch them
- they are activities or performances
- you pay for the access of experience not for a physical object => You don’t
own them
example: buying a laptop = good
hiring a technician to set up your laptop = a service
The impact of globalization on different fields.
POLITICS:
EU- European parlement
- more rules/laws
- move freely
better international cooperation
- WTO (world trade organization)
- NATO (North Atlantic treaty organization)
- UN (united nations)
, TECHNOLOGY:
Faster and easier communications and access to information (internet, phones)
No borders
More digital marketplaces
CULTURE:
- Sharing ideas (through media, food,art,fashion,…)
- Culture blending
- More people move around => immigration
- Sense of community
LANGUAGES:
- Making communication possible
- Spread across the world (English: lingua franca)
- Merging of languages
- Dialect
RELIGION:
- Helps connect people
- Beliefs clash with global trends
- Religion spreads fast influence (this can cause conflict)
ECONOMICS:
- Ecofriendly technology => environment more important
- Greenhouses gasses (= CO2 exhaust) = negative
- Climate change (encourages collaboration)
LAW:
Collaboration on new laws
Human right trade :
- Fair wages
- Working conditions
- LGBTQIA+
Last step in the process
GLOBAL CITIZEN
A global citizen is someone who understands that they are part of a wider world community,
not only their own country.
A global citizen:
respects different cultures and people,
cares about global issues such as climate change, poverty, and human rights,
understands how countries and people are connected,
tries to make the world a better and fairer place through responsible actions.
In short, being a global citizen means thinking beyond your own country and caring about the
wellbeing of people everywhere.