Unit 3: Economic Globalization & Sustainable Prosperity Comprehensive Study Guide

Overview of Social $10$-$2$ Unit $3$ Multiple Choice Examination

• Examination Structure: The unit test is comprised of exactly $40$ multiple-choice questions.
• Focus of Assessment: The majority of the questions are source-based. This format serves to evaluate the student's proficiency in reading comprehension and source interpretation skills. Students will be expected to analyze and draw conclusions from various provided documents, which may include text excerpts, data, or visual sources.
• Content Coverage: The exam covers all material from Chapters $11$, $12$, $13$, $14$, and $15$ of the textbook and related lessons.
• Preparation Resources: Students are directed to the Learning Strategies TAB in D2L (Desire$2$Learn) to find specific strategies, tools, and practice questions tailored for this unit.

International Economic Institutions and Agreements

• Bretton Woods Agreement: An agreement reached in $1944$ by representatives from $44$ nations to establish a new international monetary system. It lead to the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank after World War II to promote global stability and economic growth.
• International Monetary Fund (IMF): An international organization that works to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, and promote sustainable economic growth.
• World Bank: An international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects and reducing poverty.
• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): An international agreement established in $1947$ that aimed to reduce trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas among member countries to stimulate global economic recovery.
• World Trade Organization (WTO): The international organization that succeeded GATT in $1995$. It deals with the global rules of trade between nations, ensuring that trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible.
• United Nations (UN): An intergovernmental organization aimed at maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, and achieving international cooperation, including in the fields of economic development and environmental protection.
• European Union (EU): A political and economic union of $27$ member states located primarily in Europe. It operates a single market and, for many members, a common currency, facilitating free movement of people, goods, and services.

Trade Policies, Systems, and Market Innovations

• Capitalism: An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.
• Free Trade: A policy by which a government does not discriminate against imports or interfere with exports by applying tariffs (to imports) or subsidies (to exports).
• Trade Liberalization: The process of reducing or removing barriers to the free exchange of goods between nations, including the elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers.
• Tariff: A tax or duty imposed by a government on imported goods. Tariffs are often used to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
• Trading Bloc: A group of countries that have signed a regional trade agreement to reduce or eliminate protectionist barriers (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) among the participant countries.
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) / USMCA: A trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The USMCA is the modernized version that replaced the original NAFTA.
• Containerization: A system of freight transport using standardized shipping containers. This innovation drastically reduced the cost and time of transporting goods globally, serving as a pillar of modern economic globalization.

Economic Globalization and Modern Labor

• Economic Globalization: The widespread international movement of goods, capital, services, technology, and information. It represents the increasing economic integration and interdependence of national and regional economies across the world.
• Economic Depression: A sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is more severe than a recession and is characterized by significant declines in GDP and high unemployment.
• Knowledge-Economy: An economy in which growth is dependent on the quantity, quality, and accessibility of the information available, rather than purely on the means of production.
• Outsourcing: A practice used by different companies to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to outside suppliers or organizations rather than completing it internally.

Sustainable Prosperity and Environmental Stewardship

• Sustainability: The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level; the act of maintaining the world's resources so they do not run out.
• Sustainable Development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Sustainable Prosperity: A concept that balances economic growth and wealth with the long-term health of the environment and social well-being.
• Stewardship: The responsible planning and management of resources, particularly natural resources and the environment, for future use.
• Ecological Footprint: A measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems, representing the amount of biologically productive land and sea area necessary to supply the resources a human population consumes and to assimilate associated waste.
• Global Climate Change: Significant and lasting changes in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years, largely attributed to human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.
• Kyoto Protocol: An international treaty that committed state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occurring and that human-made $CO_2$ emissions are driving it.
• Alternative Energy Sources: Energy derived from sources that do not use up natural resources or harm the environment, such as solar, wind, and geothermal power.
• Tar Sands: Deposits of bitumen (a heavy, thick form of petroleum) mixed with sand, water, and clay. Their extraction is a significant part of the Canadian economy but is central to debates regarding environmental impact.

Government and Corporate Roles

• Privatization: The process of transferring an enterprise or industry from the public sector (government ownership) to the private sector.
• Crown Corporation: A corporation owned by the federal or provincial government (the Crown) in Canada, established to provide specific services to the public or to manage resources.
• Standard of Living: The level of wealth, comfort, material goods, and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class or geographic area.

Study Strategy: The Symbol Method

• To prepare effectively, students should categorize the key terms using the following three symbols to track their progress:
  • ✅: Complete Understanding: The student understands the term completely and does not need further review.
  • ❓: Partial Understanding: The student mostly understands the term but requires a brief refresher.
  • ❌: No Understanding: The student does not remember the term and requires intensive review to understand it better.