Global economy

The Texas oil company Exxon Mobil made a profit of 44.9 billion dollars in the financial year 2012. That is the second highest profit which a business enterprise has ever made. Business with the black gold is booming. The other side of the coin: exploitation of people and resources, warmongering or eviction have taken place and are still going on in, amongst others, Chad and Cameroon.

The origin of coffee is the Kaffa region in present-day Ethiopia. From there, the hot beverage began its triumphal march across the whole world. The highest exporting countries today include Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

The World Trade Organisation. The goal of the WTO is the removal of trade barriers and therefore the liberalising of international trade with the ultimate goal of international free trade. In addition to this the WTO is responsible for conflict resolution in trade disputes.

The abbreviation HDI stands for Human Development Index and is one measure of the level of development in a country. Three components are included in the index: the average life expectancy, the level of training and the purchasing power. Differences between cities and rural areas or social inequalities can, however, not be interpreted from this index.

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the most important figure which is used in the assessment of national economic performance. It includes the value of all goods which are produced in a national economy in a year. Disparities such as the ever-widening gap between rich and poor cannot be seen from this figure.

The number of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) is growing rapidly. According to a report by the UNCTAD in 2008 there were 82,000 TNCs with around 800,000 subsidiaries at that time. Due to this the companies have an enormous influence on the global economy. The UNCTAD estimates that a third of all goods and service revenue worldwide is generated by TNCs.

The principle of division of labour is very efficient seen from an economic point of view. Due to specific skills or conditions certain people were able to produce particular products with less effort or at a higher quality earlier than others. They specialized. As a result of this specialization the exchange of products and services developed, in which the exchange of goods was later replaced by the use of money.

Within the European Economic Area the free movement of people, goods and capital has been agreed to, with the goal of strengthening the internal economy. The EEA includes the countries of the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) of 1960 as well as the EU countries.

Oil is a finite resource and very valuable for things other than just power generation. Plastic is also made from oil. Because of this many industrial processes are dependent on this valuable raw material. Even though oil is valuable, the black gold is not a blessing for all countries with oil reserves. In Nigeria, for example, many spills from pipelines belonging to the company „Shell“ pollute the fertile land and threaten the living space and the health of the population.

Nike, as an example for a transnational corporation, has its headquarters in the USA, makes a yearly profit of over a billion Euros and is a favourite sports brand amongst young people. Although the company spends several million US dollars on advertising per year, a seamstress at Nike’s supplier „Wellco“ earns around 17 cents per hour, which is standard in the industry.

The first records of bananas come from China and India from around 3000BC. The easily damaged fruit could first make its successful move to Europe with the invention of reefer ships. The first banana transport brought the bananas to consumers in style in 1889. The firm was called „United Fruit Company“ and is now known under the name „Chiquita“.

Modern mobile telephones are becoming steadily smaller and therefore less resource intensive. However, at the same time gradually more raw materials are becoming involved. The extraction of these metals and minerals often takes place under extremely dangerous conditions, for example in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A majority of rebels finance their activities in the ongoing civil war through the sale of minerals to suppliers of the big mobile telephone producers. So called „conflict minerals“ are to be found in nearly all mobile telephones worldwide.