Micro economic assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Micro economic - Assignment Example From the Isocost Isoquant analysis graph above, we assume that corn (C) and Oil (O) are utilized in the production of biofuels (B). Therefore, the production function for biofuels will be represented by B= f(C, O). In the graph, the prices of oil and corn have been represented by PO and PC respectively. Figure 2: Equilibrium Price and Quantity in the Market for Corn .High Isocost and Isoquant curves results when the demand of biofuels increases which results in an increase in production levels of biofuels. For the production of biofuels to be effected, corn has to be used. Since, increased biofuels demands imply increased production of biofuels, it is right to say that the demand for corn will also increase significantly. Consequently, the demand that arises from the production of biofuels and that of food consumption would be compromised as depicted in figure 2 with D2 and D1 respectively. The result ripple effect will, therefore, mean that the price of corn will increase thereby le ading to a reduction in the consumption of corn as food. Many people will, therefore, opt for alternatives or substitutes since there will be reduced food availability. An isoquant is a curve that combines factors that are employed in production to arrive at the same output level. The isoquant has no effects in the changes of input prices. Every isoquant shows an output level. Isoquants of Higher levels show high output level (Baumol and Blinder 2011). An isocost line on the other line combines various factors, which are same in cost (Baumol and Blinder 2011). That why it is a straight line. The intercepts represent the amount of units of input which can be employed when it is the only purchased factor in a budget. The slope gives the price. The higher the line means that a higher cost is incurred. Therefore, the increase in prices of corns leads to a movement of the isocost line along the x axis towards the origin. Given a constant budget the quantity of corn can only be reduced. T his will lead to a change in the isocost lines. This will further lead to a rise of isocost line along conventional axis. ii. Analyze how developments in agricultural and conversion technology might influence the impacts identified in Part A (i). To counter the effects caused by increased demand for biofuels, increased conversion technology and agricultural productivity as well as use of Agricultural biotechnology and second generation biofuels would suffice (Zilberman, et al. 2008). Changes in technology are internal or depend on the economic conditions. An economy that opts to move away from inputs that cost much can always adopt technology changes. It is a mechanism that solves the increased cost of input problems. In the situation of increased costs of corn, there can be an adoption of technology to deal with the problem. Changes in technology will lead to reduction of quantity of input that is needed and, therefore, reduce the costs that are involved. The output level will incr ease with the same cost constraint. Therefore, the supply will increase hence the demand will fall (Rubinstein 2006). iii. Analyze the effects of increased competition between participants in the oil market on the impacts identified in Part A (i). In case, there is increased competition in the market of oil ceteris paribus; the prices of oil are bound to fall. If the prices of oil fall, it means that the prices of inputs will drop as oil is the input used in production of biofuels. Therefore, using the same cost allocated for production the

Australian electronic tablet industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Australian electronic tablet industry - Essay Example Apart from assessing the demands and wants of consumer the report will analyze the porter’s five forces with respect to the electronic computer industry within the Australian market. The report will also highlight on the cultural differences between the two countries based on Hofstede’s cultural dimension model. The key finding of the report is the existence of huge demand for tablet pc in Australia and some forecasting agencies have predicted that the sales figure will be skyrocketing in the years to come. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Threat of new Entrants 5 Economies of Scale 5 Brand Loyalty 5 Capital Requirement 6 Analysis 6 Threat of substitutes products 6 Switching Cost 6 Buyer Loyalty 7 Analysis 7 Bargaining power of buyers 7 Number of customers in the market 8 Availability of Substitutes 8 Analysis 9 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 9 Degree of supplier concentration 9 Availability of substitute inputs 9 Analysis 10 Existing Rivalry 10 Industry growth rate 10 Demand for product 10 Analysis 11 Recommendations 11 Hofstede’s cultural dimension 13 Cultural dimensions of Australia and Germany 13 Difference between two cultures 14 Recommendation 14 Conclusion 14 Reference 16 Threat of new Entrants New entrants are described as the companies that are presently not competing within the given industry but has the potential to compete in the industry if chooses to do so. Economies of Scale Economies of scale are about the decrease of unit cost of production when the company starts to manufacture more. Some of the sources include a) cost reduction through mass production. b) Discount availed through bulk purchase. c) Spreading fixed cost of production over volume of production. d) Same advertisement cost of large volume of production.1 Therefore Supernova limited can go for large scale production in order to grasp the cost advantage but before taking the decision they can go for a pilot test or test marketing. Brand Loyalty Brand loyalty is exhibited by consumers when they are more inclined towards the products of the established players of the industry.2Companies can create brand loyalty by using strong advertisements, superior product quality and providing after sales service. In a recent study, it has been observed that Australians do not pays extra for the sake of brand names; rather they move towards cheaper brands which offer good value for the products. Therefore, Supernova limited has to retain the loyalty by maintaining a fixed level of price and also satisfying the customer needs. 1. Gareth Jones and Charles Hill, Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach (US: Cengage Learning, 2009), 44. 2. William M. Pride and O.C. Ferrell, Marketing (US: Cengage Learning, 2011), 400. Capital Requirement Capital requirement is the amount needed for the cost of production and considering the fact that the firm is a new entrant in the market, the total cost will also include the whole set up of the company to st art its operation. The entire set up will include manufacturing in the factory, raw materials, labor charges and all other variable cost. Since the company does not have any restrictions in the financial segment they can undertake all the required operations. Analysis Since the company

Biology Essays Factors affecting mammal population in the neotropics

Biology Essays Factors affecting mammal population in the neotropics An essay on the factors affecting mammal population in the neotropics and the challenges managing these populations. Introduction The Neotropics includes Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Southern Florida and it also hold the greatest amount of standing forests. These wooded wildlands are mosaic in a variety of green that together add up to some 1.37 million acres. Mammals in these areas are affected by several factors which affect their livelihood and sustenance. As a result, any of these species are either being extinct or reduced. Mammals are described as any of a large group of warm-blooded vertebrate animals characterized by having mammary glands in the female, which is used for suckling the young. Other features includes hairs which are very reduced in some species such as whales, a middle ear formed from three small bones (ossicles), a lower jaw consisting of two bones only, seven vertebrae in the neck and no nucleus in the red blood cells. Mammals belong to the class Mammalia. They are divided into three groups. Eutherians (Placental mammals), this is where the young develop inside the mother’s body in the uterus and receives nourishment from the blood of the mother via the placenta. The Marsupials (Pouched mammlas), where the young’s are born at an early stage of development and develop futher in a pouch on the mother’s body where they are attached to and feed from a nipple and the final group being, Monotremes (Egg- laying mammlas), this is where the young hatch from an egg outside the mother’s body and then nourished with milk. The monotremes are the least evolved and have been largely displaced by more sophisticated marsupials and placentals, so they are only a few types surviving platypus and echidna. Placental mammals have spread to all parts of the globe where they have competed with marsupials; they have in general displaced the marsupial types. However, marsupials occupy many specialized niches in South America and especially Australia. There are over 4000 species of mammals, adapted to almost every way of life, with the smallest shrew weighing 2g/0.07oz and the largest the whale up to 140 tons. According to the Red list of endangered species published by the World Conservation Union for 1996, 25% of mammal species population is threatened with extinction. The Red list of endangered species is a scientific assessment of the status of the world’s animal species. Although it carries no legal force this international compilation is seen by many scientist and conservationist as a warning of global decline in the wildlife biodiversity. The report also sates that 24 of the 26 orders of mammalian species are at the brink of extinction globally with an excess of 50% of the neotropical mammalian species. A leading cause of this decline in population is due to habitat degradation and destruction which is mostly due to human population and economic development, such as, over hunting, pollution and deforestation. There is also the introduction of non native species that plays a significant threat to mammalian species survival along side climatic changes. This assignment will discuss the factors affecting mammal population in the neotropics and also I will seek to list the challenges managing these populations. Factors affecting mammals of the neotropics Humans are the chief cause of neotropical mammalian loss. They destroy the plants which provide food and also shelter for the animals and also hunt for them and utilize their meat as food and their skin for clothing. Plants are generally taxonomically diverse and omnipresent. They function as primary producers hence; they are the most critical components in the maintenance of a vibrant functional mammalian population. It provides food for almost all mammals, coverings for numerous organisms, stabilize water sheds functioning and also provide a variety of other critical ecological functions such as stabilizing the earth’s oxygen content and nitrogen fixation which are vital for the animals’ survival. Most of this destruction by humans (a mammal) occurs to clear land for agriculture and cattle grazing, even though much of the forested land is inappropriate for farming or ranching. Cutting down of the plant removes most of the nutrients from the ecosystem, leaving soil tha t will only be able to support intensive agriculture for a couple of seasons. Over the past decade, Large-scale forest fires, timber extraction by local and foreign companies, mining, the building of dams, and population growth have also made significant contributions to forest loss in the neotropics. Population growth and economic expansion have led to the construction of new roads and buildings that both physically and ecologically fragment the forest, reducing its vitality. The now plantless lands or once forested areas are subsequently being used for the construction of homes, and consequently animals are being forced to migrate form these areas resulting in reduction in the species population. Habitat fragmentation could result in the loss and strain on the mammalian population. Some animals can benefit from the fragments of land while others may not. Depending on the size of the island patches large animals like jaguars can find it very difficult to obtain sufficient food for their survival. Many mammals such as manatees, cows, pigs, and sheep just to name a few are hunted and used by humans for food purposes. In addition to be hunted for food purposes some animals are hunted primarily for clothing and ornamental purposes. Wildlife trade also reduces the population or destroys the habitat of many neotropical mammals. Wild life trade is the third largest illegal trade in the world and it has an estimate of $1 billion on the Brazilian market alone. It affects most of the species that are officially listed as endangered species. As it relates to Brazil wildlife animals are officially being held in captivity including the threatened species such as the golden lion tamarin and the capuchin monkeys. Over the years, penalties have been enforced on poachers and people who obtain the wild animals. Mammals that are being taken out of their natural habitat are being trained and used as game animals for exhibition and economical purposes. Neotropical environments are also threatened by intensifying and poorly planned developments. Such development has resulted in ecosystem devastation. Pollution of rivers, beaches and other water beds by industrial, municipal and human waste has resulted in the loss or illness of many aquatic mammals such as dolphins. In the most industrialized country, Brazil, pollution in the area has often resulted in acid rain over the forest remnants. Fires such as campfires and accidental forest fires play a critical role in the depletion of the species. Noise pollution also plays a part in the disturbance of mammals’ population especially underwater noise pollution which is a disturbing problem that is quickly degrading the ocean life. This type of pollution can be described in many ways, simply because the ocean is filled to the brim with loud noises coming from various sources for example, military sonar, used for defensive and research purposes, fishing boats, merchant ships, research vessels, and oil rigs. Some of these noises are as a result of human activity. The increase of noise in the ocean has adverse effects on marine mammals in almost every aspect of their life, one of which is their behaviour. In order to communicate with each other, many species of whales depend on hearing calls from other whales. These calls can easily be hidden behind acoustic masking from sounds in the same frequency ranges. For example, the calls of baleen whales (humpback, blue, fin, and grey whales) are frequencies that range from 20 to 500 Hz. Sonar and even natural sources frequencies of sounds can mask the calls of whales and other marine mammals and significantly alter their natural behaviors. This noise can also cover other behaviors such as dolphin special echolocation skills used for navigational purposes, foraging for food, and communication within the specific group members. You can get expert help with your essays right now. Find out more The building of roads and other building can divide biomes and isolate many animals in the neotropics through the clearing of trees. Road traffic also causes pollution and also kills many of the animals. Many highways and buildings have been built without necessary environmental impact reports, and many are left unfinished, leaving neighboring areas vulnerable to severe erosion, that can have negative outcome on the animals’ survival. Climatic changes can also have impacts on the species population. High environmental temperatures can lessen male fertility by damaging or killing sperm, While, it can also trigger blood flow changes that reduce the flow of blood to the uterine tract, damaging or killing developing embryos in females thus lowering, their fertility rate. All the above factors can have and is having a great impact on the neotropical mammal population. Challenges managing the factors affecting the neotropic mammal population Although neotropical mammals, are faced with many challenges in dealing with their continuous existence, various managing schemes are being put in place to prevent these hazardous impacts to control their population. Conservation projects have being established in selected areas in an attempt to reverse the trend in declining population sizes. These projects play a vital part in the development of ecotourism in almost all parts of the neotropics and also the protection and conservation of various animal species. In terms of ecotourism development, tourists will have to pay to visit areas with interesting natural and cultural features. Conservationists from the various projects can also work along with local communities to educate people about the value of the wildlife in the area, to eliminate illegal hunting and to assist communities in developing farming and logging methods that are habitat and also animal friendly. The implementation of national parks and other private organizations can also play a part in conservation activities that can help to eradicate and protect the neotropical animals who lives are at stake. In addition to the development in ecotourism, the establishment of protected areas can also play a part in protecting the species diversity. Protected areas establishment will tend to have important economic as well as social function in conserving biodiversity. Captive breeding is another managing scheme which can help with this. It focuses on the reproduction of rare animals in captivity. The legal practice of captive breeding increases the population of many endangered species world wide. Species that are being held captive in this way can serve as a demographic and genetic reservoir for the species. Examples of few neotropical mammals held captive are the golden lion tamarin the capuchin monkeys, seals manatees and wildcats such as jaguar. A penalty of a fixed amount should be enforced to the various people of the different regions who practice the illegal capturing and use of the animals in the wild for their own purposes such as exploitation and over hunting. In 1975, the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) treaty prohibited international trade on most wild cats and was dramatically effective in curtailing trade of jaguar skins. In closing it can be noted that a wise approach towards the neotropical regions can be of great importance in the conservation of the animals species diversity. Although many of these approach are being taken by humans (a mammal), much more measures should be put in place try and curb this situation, because they are some heartless people who are still practicing these unlawful activities and should be punished for their heartless actions. With this in place there will be a rich mammalian population not only in the neotropical regions but also other parts of the world. References Lindley, David (1998) Webster’s New World Dictionary of Science, Helicon Publishing Limited Whitmore, T.C. (1998) An Introduction to Tropical Rain Forests, Second Edition Oxford University Press New York www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/cerrado/biodiversity.xml date accessed 2008-02-26 http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/aar.cfm?id=conservation date accessed 2008-02-26

The Good Earth: Summary Essay -- essays research papers

The Good Earth: Summary Wang Lung was the son of a peasant farmer. When it came for him to marry, his father chose a slave girl from the house of Hwang who was hardworking. O- lan, Wang Lung's wife was a good wife for Wang Lung. She did not waste anything, and made items such as shoes for the family so Wang Lung could save his money for other things.. She worked endlessly for Wang Lung and his father, and even helped Wang Lung plow the field. One day while helping on the field, O-lan went inside and bore their first child. Luckily, it was a boy. Girls at that time were always slaves, or married to other family's sons. They named him Nung Wen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before leaving the house of Hwang earlier, O-lan promised to bring their first child to pay respects to the house. That year, the harvest was good, so Wang Lung bought new clothes for O-lan, the baby, and himself. After paying their respects, Wang Lung made a deal with the house of Hwang and bought a plot of good land just outside the house. One year later, another boy was born and was named Nung En.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wang Lung's third child was a disaster. Not only was it a girl, but she was born retarded. That summer, a drought hit the area where Wang Lung lived, and it did not rain for months. There was little harvest, and soon all of the wheat was gone. Starving, Wang Lung had his ox killed for food, but could not bear to watch because the beast had been so faithful to him. Not having any money, Wang Lung sold the furniture in his house for a few silver pieces. His fourth child was born in the drought, and was born dead. The family was forced to move South to find food, so with the money he made from selling the furniture, Wang Lung paid train fare to go down south.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the train, Wang Lung spent some more money to buy material so they could build a hut when they reached the city. At the city, they built their hut, and discovered a kitchen where for almost no money at all, a person could eat all of the rice they wanted. Wang Lung bought enough rice for his family, and they ate it heartily. Now, Wang Lung needed money again, so the next day he rented a ricksha to transport the rich around the city for money, and O-lan and the children begged for money. After paying the rent for the ricksha, Wang Lung did not make a lot, but it was enough to sup... ...e opium, and began to annoy Wang Lung's older son's wife by talking dirty and walking around with his robe open. Seeing this, Nung Wen became very angry and Wang Lung rented a portion of the house of Hwang. The uncle and his wife were left in the country with their opium, and the uncle's son left to join the army.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Ching died, Wang Lung stopped farming and rented out his land, hoping that his youngest son would tend the land, but when he took a girl that his youngest son liked, his youngest son ran away from home and joined the army.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Wang Lung's death came near, he moved back to the country to be with his land. He brought only his slave Pear Blossom, that his youngest son loved, and his first daughter that was simple. One day as he was looking at the fields with his sons, he heard them talking about how they were going to spend their inheritance and what they would do with the money they would make from selling the land. Wang Lung cried out that they must never sell the land because only with land could they be sure of earning a living. But Wang Lung did not see his sons look at each other over his head and grin.

Portfolio Requirements Essay

Section A Now, in no more than a one page Word document (aim for around 500 words), create a new list, once again prioritizing the MDGs and targets from development you would like to see in your country. However, this list should not only be the original list that you placed in the Discussions: it should also incorporate the replies you got from your peers and the Discussions that took place in the rest of your group. Include on this one page an explanation of how you arrived at your final list, by referring to the replies you got from your peers and the Discussions that took place in the rest of your group. It is also important that in this page, you explain your view on how you compare â€Å"happiness† to increased economic wealth. Submit your one page Word document via the Assignments tool. Section B In no more than a one page Word document (aim for around 500 words), create a new set of answers. However, this list should not only be the original list that you placed in the Discussions: it should also incorporate the replies you got from your peers and the Discussions that took place in the rest of your group. Also incorporateinto this one page some additional information that you were able to add to your answers by exploring the Internet – don’t forget to include the web addresses of the pages where you gathered this information. Submit your one page Word document via the Assignments tool. Section C Students who successfully complete this assignment will be able to present critical arguments around ICTs for development projects and demonstrate their capabilities related to engaging with textual and numerical data to present information in a presentation format. Locate any project where ICTs were applied in contexts such as those described in this chapter, in your local community, own city, province or country, or elsewhere in the world and/or that you have been involved with. Ensure that you identify the following aspects in your case study: 1. Title  of the project 2. Website address(es) that provide information about the project 3. Introduction & Background, including details on the project Rationale (what was the reason for the project/why was it needed?) Start date, duration (this far) and status (ongoing, completed, etc.) 4. A description of the project, including details on The ICT4D solutions that was used in the project The strengths and weaknesses of the project 5. You could also add things like Major partners Major stakeholders Who initiated the process? Who were the target beneficiaries? Who were the service providers? How did the initiative work? Was there a local champion (some-one from the local community who represented the interests of that community)? Create a PowerPoint presentation of no more than 8 slides that provide the information as detailed above. Submit your presentation via the Assignments tool. Section D Portfolio Section D: Ethics, Copyright and IPR in Computer labs In the normal course of their teaching duties, several lecturers have reported finding pirated software improperly installed on the computers in the computer labs. Lecturers also found that students have copied and pasted materials from various Internet resources into their own assignments and reproduced them as if they were their own. This, they find, is a common problem among their students. Before taking a decision on what should be done, lecturers asks you, as students, for your inputs to decision-making. Submit your answers to the following questions in either a one page Word document (aim for around 500 words) or a PowerPoint presentation of no more than 8 slides in the Assignments tool: 1. What are the ethical and IPR issues that the faculty are confronted with? 2. What are the steps that the faculty should  take to address the ethical and IPR issues? 3. If you were the student who copied and was caught for plagiarism, what are the consequences you would expect?

Macroeconomics †Globalisation Essay

â€Å"For its supporters, globalisation describes a dream of opportunity and prosperity. For its opponents, it denotes a nightmare of greed and inequality† Explain the term globalisation and the factors that may have contributed to the process. Globalisation can be defined as the integration of the world’s economies into a single international market, as local and national markets become incorporated into the global capitalist system of production with increasing interdependence. It promotes the free movement of labour, capital, goods, services, technology and management in response to markets around the world. The growth of markets in this manner is not a new, but a process that has seen the markets grow from a local scale to a national one during the Industrial Revolution and to an international scale by the end of the 20th century. The growth of international trade has been significant in furthering globalisation. During the Industrial Revolution, Britain had a significant comparative advantage as its advanced manufacturing technology allowed hugely improved transport through steamships and railway networks across its Empire. This opened up huge potential markets around the globe for British exports, at the same time making a huge range of goods from these new trading partners accessible to British consumers. Although comparative advantages have changed, this is a trend that has continued into the 21st century, with the rise of low cost air travel and other forms of transport becoming quicker, cheaper and further reaching. There is certainly incentive for this – international trade driving globalisation has seen a rise in the trade of manufactured goods to $12 trillion in 2005, a hundred times greater than it was in 1955. Over a similar period, the industrialisation of LEDCs has also been significant. As systems of production in economies such as the Asian Tigers, including Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, and increasingly the Tiger Cubs of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia along with other NICs have advanced; their economies have become increasingly suited to manufacturing industries. Cheap labour costs in these countries encourage this development, which has been partly responsible for a new international division of labour. As production and trade of quaternary services such as research and development has increased in the three main areas of influence of North America, the EU and Japan, MNCs have increasingly looked to NICs to provide secondary industry, incentivised by low production costs and an increasingly welcoming attitude from national governments. Whilst restrictions still exist, this is particularly true in India, where rules that previously did not allow FDI are loosening and large firms such as Wal-Mart are seeing opportunities to access new markets, particularly in the IT sector. It is perhaps a result of this and other economic liberalising policies that India is seeing growth rates of 9%. Whilst the rise of globalisation has certainly seen a widening in participation in international trade – not even the oil producing nations are, for example, energy independent, some economies are far more integrated in the global capitalist system of production than others. As many MEDCs specialise in the production of services, very little of their economies are left purely domestic. In contrast, however, the remaining non-industrialised LEDCs, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, have significantly less impact on the global economy. Trading in ‘cash crops’ and similar primary goods, much economic activity in these nations is still domestic, with many farmers, notably, practicing subsistence farming to the point they have little to no involvement in the cash economy. Evaluate the view that, although globalisation has brought benefits to the UK economy, it has not been without significant costs. The process of globalisation has not continued without criticism. Clearly, there have been considerable benefits to the UK economy over several hundred years as a result of globalisation, but are there costs associated with the rise of the global economy and, indeed, are those costs now outweighing the benefits of an interdependent world? Globalisation has increased the competitiveness of UK markets. Competing in highly contestable markets, British firms face competition from abroad. A few large firms, between whom collusion very well may have occurred, as explained by game theory, had typically dominated domestic markets. As more firms entered the market, they erode larger firms market share with which they may have exercised monopoly power. Domestic firms are thus forced to become more productively efficient, producing at lower cost to compete with, for example, goods manufactured using cheap labour in South East Asia. Competition would also promote innovation so that in an economy with high labour costs, British industry could gain a comparative advantage over foreign firms. The effect of globalisation has thus been an influx of new goods and services combined with lower prices on existing goods, now of a better quality. Globalisation has therefore lead to a net gain in welfare for UK consumers. However, the realities of the situation are very different. Realistically, UK firms cannot compete in the manufacturing industry where economies with cheap labour have been deemed to provide ‘unfair competition’. The UK is a high labour cost country and thus at a comparative disadvantage which is effectively impossible to overcome, as demonstrated with the loss of the motor industry in the UK during the 1970s. ‘Footloose capitalism’ has no preferred location, and as such will shift production to wherever costs are lowest. Globalisation has spurred the process of de-industrialisation, whereby employment in the manufacturing sector has fallen from 7.1 million in 1971 to 3.1 million in 2005, where the size of the UK labour force has in fact grown with rising participation rates. Many of these workers are either unskilled or have been trained to a specific task, making it difficult for them to find alternative employment, compounding the problem. The effects have not just been felt in manufacturing, but increasingly in the service section as IT booms in India and many firms opt for business process outsourcing. Surveys by Deloitte have shown that much of the UK population are deeply concerned about the outsourcing of white-collar jobs. Globalisation has lead to job losses in the UK, causing social distress and negatively affecting unemployment rates, an important economic performance indicator. The picture is not as bleak as it may seem, however. Unemployment rates in the UK remain low, and that generated can be viewed as frictional unemployment as other vacancies do exist. Government training schemes, such as free IT lessons under the auspices of Learn Direct also go a long way to combating structural unemployment as manufacturing workers can retrain for jobs in the quaternary sector. Whilst the UK has lost the majority of its manufacturing industries, a new international division of labour has emerged as the theory of comparative advantage shows that global production is increased if economies specialise in what they are relatively best at producing. The UK’s specialisation in the service industry has lead to job creation and significantly increases in national output. Measured through real GDP growth, this rise in national output as a result of specialisation shows that globalisation has been in part responsible for economic growth. Augmented by the multiplier effect, this brings benefits to the whole economy. However, the direct economic benefits derived from globalisation have in fact widened spatial inequalities rather than benefited all, as impacts have differed between the regions. Under the international division of labour, there has been a greater emphasis on knowledge-based industry with the rise of the service sector, with 73.1% of national output in 2004 being in the service sector, compared to manufacturing’s 15%. Where benefits from these dramatic figured? Quaternary and knowledge-based services are concentrated around the M4 corridor – the sunrise strip, and silicon fen, with R+D focused on science parks located around southern universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. These effects of de-industrialisation have created a north/south divide, as the north is traditionally home to the manufacturing industry. Northeast England never fully recovered from loss of traditional heavy manufacturing industries such ad shipbuilding. The consequential migration of workers to the south of England has placed pressure on resources and housing, whilst some northern areas such as Liverpool have seen a fall in population. This is allocatively inefficient – resources are wasted whilst the necessary investment needed to deal with the new distribution of population has spurred further investment in the south, widening the north/south divide. In conclusion, the costs to the UK economy from the march of globalisation are highly significant, although their impact can be disputed when the importance of globalisation to UK economic development is considered. However, globalisation is not a process that can be reversed, halted or even slowed. The world is interdependent and will continue to be so, and the UK must be a part of it. International trade, the driving force of globalisation, is enormously important to the UK has been responsible for its position as a major economic power since the days of the British Empire. We have neither the resources nor the inclination to pursue a policy of economic isolationism, as the potential benefits from globalisation are huge. The best option, therefore, would be a cautious approach, devising strategies to tackle problems as they arise with a fundamental focus on sustainability.