Globalization: trade blocs, shipping and the internet

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A. Millbrook, an inland mill town (Made up for practice.) Mill jobs: 4,000 in 1995 and 1,600 in 2005. After a trade agreement, clothing prices fell 20 percent. Millbrook has 12,000 households, and each spends $3,000 a year on clothes. Card B. Port Harlow, a port city (Made up for practice.) Port and warehouse jobs: 5,000 in 1995 and 8,000 in 2005. Clothing prices fell 20 percent there too. It has 40,000 households, and each spends $3,000 a year on clothes. Card C. Millbrook’s laid-off mill workers (Made up for practice.) Of the 2,400 who lost mill jobs, 1,500 found other work paying $12,000 a year less than before, and 900 had no job after a year. Mill pay had been $40,000 a year.

2. 1.

   A councillor says: “Cheaper clothes more than made up for Millbrook’s lost mill jobs.” Does the evidence support that for Millbrook, Bo asks?

   • No: Millbrook households save about $7.2 million a year, but the displaced workers lose about $54 million a year in pay
   • Yes, because 12,000 households each save $600 while 2,400 workers lose pay, so more people gain than lose
   • Yes, because Port Harlow gained 3,000 jobs, which cover Millbrook’s $54 million loss once its workers move there
   • Yes, because 1,500 of the 2,400 found other work within a year, at $12,000 less, so most of the loss was temporary

3. Use this

   Card A. Container shipping, in our words (Smithsonian National Museum of American History): Malcom McLean, a trucking entrepreneur from North Carolina, bought a steamship company in 1955. The Ideal-X, the first container ship, sailed from New Jersey to Texas in 1956 with 58 containers. The same container could travel on rail, truck and ship. With fewer men needed, longshoremen faced huge job losses. Card B. Two ports (Made up for practice.) Port Harlow built a container terminal in 1995. Its cargo rose from 2.0 million tons in 1995 to 6.4 million in 2005, and its port and warehouse jobs from 5,000 to 8,000. Kellmouth, an old port with no container terminal: cargo fell from 2.0 million tons to 0.8 million, and port jobs from 4,000 to 1,200.

4. 2.

   The Smithsonian says container shipping cost longshoremen huge job losses. Why did Port Harlow’s jobs rise anyway while Kellmouth’s fell, Esme asks?

   • Port Harlow handled far more cargo, 2.0 to 6.4 million tons, so jobs rose though jobs per ton halved; Kellmouth lost cargo and jobs
   • The Smithsonian is wrong about job losses, since Port Harlow added 3,000 jobs after building a container terminal
   • Container ships create port jobs wherever they call, since Port Harlow’s jobs rose from 5,000 to 8,000 after its terminal opened in 1995
   • Port Harlow’s cargo more than tripled, so the number of jobs per ton does not matter to the Smithsonian’s point

5. Use this

   Card A. Veldia, a made-up country with made-up numbers. Columns: Year; Trade share of GDP (percent); Average tariff (percent); Ports with container terminals (percent). 1960: 15; 30; 0. 1970: 22; 18; 40. 1980: 28; 15; 85. 1990: 29; 8; 100. 2000: 41; 5; 100. A tariff is a tax on goods brought in from another country.

6. 3.

   Veldia’s trade rose while tariffs fell and container ports spread. Which decades best separate those two causes, Jun asks?

   • The 1980s alone, since tariffs fell 7 points and trade barely rose, so tariff cuts had no effect on Veldia’s trade in any decade
   • The 1970s and 1980s: ports gained 45 points with tariffs down 3 and trade up 6; then tariffs fell 7, ports rose 15, trade rose 1
   • The 1990s, since trade rose the most, 12 points, and tariffs stood at their lowest level, 5 percent
   • The 1960s, since tariffs fell 12 points and ports rose 40 points while trade rose 7, which supports both causes

7. Use this

   Card A. Dates, in our words (CERN; World Trade Organization): The first proposal for the World Wide Web was written in March 1989. The first web server and browser ran at CERN by the end of 1990, and the software was released in 1991. On April 30, 1993 CERN made the web software available royalty-free. The WTO began on January 1, 1995; it grew out of the GATT, signed on October 30, 1947 by 23 founding members, and is the only international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. Card B. Veldia, 1990 to 2000 (Made up for practice.) Trade share of GDP rose from 29 to 41 percent. The average tariff fell from 8 to 5 percent.

8. 4.

   Veldia’s trade rose 12 points in the 1990s, when the Web (1993) and the WTO (1995) both began. Which extra table would best separate them as causes, Kira asks?

   • The date each began: 1993 comes before 1995, so the Web had longer to work and is the stronger cause
   • Tariff rates by year, since a fall from 8 to 5 percent would show the WTO’s effect directly on trade
   • Veldia’s total trade share in each year from 1990 to 2000, since a jump after 1993 or after 1995 would show which cause it was
   • Trade growth split into goods whose tariffs were cut and services delivered online, 1990 against 2000

9. Use this

   Card A. Norland Union, a made-up union of countries with made-up numbers. Trade share of GDP: 52 percent in 1990, 54 in 1993, 58 in 1998 and 64 in 2008. The union’s single market began on January 1, 1993 and its shared currency on January 1, 1999.

10. 5.

    Does the table show that the Norland Union’s shared currency raised its trade, Luz asks?

    • No: the share rose in both periods, so the table cannot show any effect of either change
    • No: the share rose 0.8 points a year after the single market of 1993 and 0.6 after the currency of 1999
    • Yes: the share rose 6 points between 1998 and 2008, after the currency began, so the currency raised trade
    • The single market caused the whole rise, since the yearly pace picked up from 0.67 to 0.8 points after 1993

11. Use this

    Card A. Ardmoor, a made-up country with made-up numbers, 1995 to 2005. Trade share of GDP: 20 percent to 38 percent. Average income per person: $8,000 to $12,000. Median income (the middle person): $6,000 to $6,300. Average income of the poorest fifth of people: $1,800 to $1,700.

12. 6.

    A report says: “Trade made the typical Ardmoor resident 50 percent better off.” What do the three income figures show about that claim, Milo asks?

    • The claim fails, since the poorest fifth lost income, which means most residents lost income too
    • The claim holds, since an average rise of 50 percent means most residents gained about half again as much income in those years
    • The claim holds, since the trade share rose from 20 to 38 percent over the same years as incomes
    • The 50 percent is the average; the typical resident (the median) gained 5 percent and the poorest fifth lost income

13. Use this

    Card A. Ardmoor, 1995 to 2005 (Made up for practice.) Population: 10 million to 15 million. Share of people below the poverty line: 40 percent to 28 percent.

14. 7.

    A minister says: “Poverty in Ardmoor fell by almost a third.” Which statement does the data support, Noah asks?

    • The number of people in poverty fell by almost a third, since the share of people below the poverty line fell from 40 to 28 percent
    • Poverty rose, since the number of people in poverty rose from 4.0 to 4.2 million over the ten years
    • The share fell 12 percent, since it fell 12 points, so the minister overstated the fall
    • The share fell 30 percent (40 to 28), but the population grew, so the number in poverty rose from 4.0 to 4.2 million

15. Use this

    Card A. Ardmoor, 1995 to 2005 (Made up for practice.) Average wages rose 30 percent. Imported goods, a quarter of household spending, fell 20 percent in price. Housing and services, three quarters of spending, rose 40 percent in price.

16. 8.

    A report says: “Cheaper imports lifted Ardmoor’s living standards by 30 percent.” Using wages and prices, what do the cards support, Pia asks?

    • A small gain: prices rose about 25 percent overall, so buying power rose only about 4 percent, not 30
    • A fall, since housing and services rose 40 percent in price, which is more than the 30 percent wage rise
    • A gain of about 10 percent, since wages rose 30 percent and prices rose 20 percent
    • A 30 percent gain, since wages rose 30 percent and imported goods became cheaper at the same time

17. Use this

    Card A. Two countries (Made up for practice.) 1995 to 2005. Ardmoor: trade share of GDP rose from 20 to 40 percent, and average income rose 60 percent. Tarnby: trade share rose from 25 to 45 percent, and average income rose 10 percent.

18. 9.

    A student says: “A higher trade share raises incomes.” What does the pair of countries show about that claim, Tala asks?

    • Tarnby disproves it, since a 10 percent rise in income is too small to count as a gain
    • Equal 20-point rises in trade came with income rises of 60 and 10 percent, so trade share alone does not predict income growth
    • Ardmoor confirms the claim, and Tarnby is an exception that can be set aside as an unusual case, so the claim stands
    • Both confirm it, since incomes rose in each country when the trade share rose

19. Use this

    Card A. Veldia, a made-up country with made-up numbers. Columns: Year; Trade share of GDP (percent); Average tariff (percent); Ports with container terminals (percent). 1960: 15; 30; 0. 1970: 22; 18; 40. 1980: 28; 15; 85. 1990: 29; 8; 100. 2000: 41; 5; 100. A tariff is a tax on goods brought in from another country. Card B. Reading X (invented for this sheet): “Tariff cuts raised Veldia’s trade.” Reading Y (invented for this sheet): “The spread of container ports raised Veldia’s trade.”

20. 10.

    Which decade is hardest for Reading X to explain, given Veldia's table, Zee asks?

    • The 1990s: ports were complete by 1990, so X cannot explain the 12-point rise in trade
    • The 1970s: tariffs fell only 3 points, so the 6-point rise in trade must come from ports
    • The 1980s: tariffs fell 7 points, more than in the 1970s or 1990s, yet trade rose just 1
    • Reading X is false, since one decade with a large tariff cut shows almost no rise in trade