a. The reason China receives the majority of U.S. scrap is simply the shipping costs. It costs significantly less to ship scrap to China and so even if the price for scrap was better in India, which it rarely is, it is unlikely to be a better deal to ship to India. But why is it cheaper to ship to China? The huge trade imbalance between the U.S. and China causes there to be a significant amount of ships in the U.S. waiting for a backhaul. Scrap is an effective filler, as there is a high demand in China, for the boats that would have gone back empty.
b. "'They're probably migrants from Punjab,' he tells me, then says a couple of words to them in a language I don't understand, and they nod. 'They send money home. It's better than farming. I'm sure they're illiterate.'"
This quote illustrates the displacement of workers from their families in order to make money. The opportunities abroad are better, and as a result they can make more money for them and their families. Unfortunately, this also means they have to live away from their families.
c. Jared Diamond talked a lot about the impacts of geography on which countries were successful and, to some extent, this is still true. The types of geography that lead to success are now different. It is closeness and ease of transportation to countries with a demand for products a country produces and from countries a country has demand for products from that determines whether or not a country is involved internationally, and as a result more likely to be successful in those specific market. The comparison between India and China in the market for scrap metal illustrates this. A factor unrelated to the scrap metal market, the trade imbalance with the U.S. caused by China's more developed industrial sector and ports, leads to China dominating over India despite Jamnagar having a huge demand for scrap.
No comments:
Post a Comment