Unit 34

Challenges facing chief executives
For information on the key issues facing business read the Economist's survey of Chief Executives at
www.ukinvest.gov.uk/2/d/10182/en/GB/1.0.html

Challenges of a global economy
To read about the challenges of a global economy see
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6335305.stm

Davos
To read about the latest findings from the Davos 2007 conference visit
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2007/davos07/default.stm

Death of Doha
In 2006 the Doha trade negotiations came to a halt. To find out more about this visit
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5215318.stm

Debt relief
For information on international debt relief visit
www.guardian.co.uk/debt/0,,178197,00.html

Globalisation
To read the BBCs's guide to globalisation visit
news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457022/html/default.stm
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2007/globalisation/default.stm

Globalisation and the UK
"Globalisation and the UK – strength and opportunity to meet the economic challenge' sets out how businesses, individuals and Government in the UK need to respond to the challenges and opportunities of globalisation. The paper builds on 'Long-term global economic challenges and opportunities for the UK', published at the 2004 Pre-Budget Report, which set out the six key challenges to which advanced countries such as the UK need to respond.
The paper considers a number of factors that impact on the UK's response:
• how macroeconomic stability and a flexible business environment provide the foundations necessary for a prosperous domestic economy, and how this is made more important by globalisation; and
• the importance of comparative advantage and new economic geography theories in explaining how globalisation impacts on businesses' location decisions.
In the light of this analysis, the paper identifies priorities for the policy response to enable the UK to respond successfully to the challenges of globalisation. In particular, it draws out five policy areas in which the UK needs to make substantial further progress in order to benefit fully and secure the gains from globalisation:
• the importance of meeting changing skills needs;
• strengthening the capacity for science and innovation;
• reducing regulatory burdens on business;
• ensuring that the planning system is flexible and responsive to changing economic needs; and
• ensuring that the UK's transport infrastructure supports a flexible and enterprising business sector.
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/documents/enterprise_and_productivity/encouraging_enterprise/ent_global_uk.cfm

International Monetary Fund
"The IMF is an organization of 184 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty."
www.imf.org/

Location
To see the location of General Motor's and Toyota's car plants across the world visit
news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457029/html/nn2page1.stm

Stiglitz
The Nobel prize winning economics Professor Joseph Stiglitz recently wrote about the dangers of globalisation, specifically in relation to India. Whilst highlighting some of the benefits of globalisation in terms of helping India's growth (around 9% p.a.) Stiglitz makes a number of other interesting points such as:
1. India's growth has been helped enormously by more business friendly policies within the country as well as globalisation
2. Some sectors had not gained; for example, Indian cotton farmers had found it difficult to compete against the artificially depressed prices of American cotton farmers who were heavily subsidised.
3. The environmental impact of such growth has been huge
4. Resources such as water were in short supply in some regions
For more on Stiglitz's work visit
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6195617.stm

World trade negotiations
For a quick quiz to test your negotiating powers in world trade see
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6183887.stm

World Bank
"The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the common sense. We are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 184 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). Each institution plays a different but supportive role in our mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together we provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes."
www.worldbank.org/

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Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Unit 34.

Unit 34