This article looks at the UN’s progress on accomplishing its set goals, some including ending persistent gender discrimination, ending war, climate change, and the fight for human rights. Most of the goals do not seem to be able to be completed in a timely fashion or on a global scale.

Contextualization: 

This article largely relates to the class discussion regarding the United Nations’ development goals. We looked through each separate goal and its targets, discussing how realistic they are and their plans for implementation. This article comes to much the same conclusion that we came to in class about these goals; the goals work in theory, but are extremely difficult to implement in the "real world" context. 

This article discusses how China has enacted policies that appear to make it easier for foreign business and investment to work in China. However, despite the system changes, in practice, there are still too many restrictions for foreign firms to want to invest in China’s companies.

This article brought to mind the data and subsequent class discussions regarding FDI inflows and outflows. As discussed, in both data sets, China was one of the biggest givers and receivers of FDI. Yet, the article mentions how these inflows in FDI may drop further because of China’s continual restrictions in FDI policy.

This article discusses how Apple opened a new app training center in an Italian University in the Naples area, which is known for its underdevelopment and crime. Apple's wants to teach students how to create apps and further produce capable computer engineering graduates.

Contextualization: 

The economic and sociological viewpoints of FDI and MNCs came to mind, per class discussions. Apple could be producing spillover effects for the poor Naples area, as they are investing in technological education Italy’s citizens, potentially leading to growth. In the sociological viewpoint, Apple could be providing a short-lived growth, but could later potentially make Naples reliant on U.S. support in the future.

This article looks at the poverty increases and declines in various regions of the world, utilizing World Bank data. It mentions that while less people in India and China are now above their poverty thresholds, many people are still struggling.

Contextualization:

This article relates to the different methods of measuring development, as discussed in class. While the World Bank is using the more academic measure of looking at people in poverty using thresholds, it does not account for the health or education aspects, as the UN's HDI measures. Further, the article mentions the subjective nature of the poverty thresholds, thus acknowledging lacking the complete (under)development picture.

This article highlights the present cattle-herding struggle that Kenya is experiencing. Because Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is becoming more urbanized, there is not enough room for cattle to get the food they need. The cattle herders are being forced to break the laws and enter Nairobi to feed their cows.

This article brought to mind the class lectures about the effect of FDI and MNCs coming into foreign nations. Nairobi is becoming more urbanized, renovated, and populated, due to more money and more companies being put into Kenya’s capital. This effect of FDI is felt by ordinary people, such as Mr. Lemayian, who is struggling because he cannot feed his cows due to these modernization efforts (lack of cow food).This illustrates a potentially adverse effect of FDI/MNC expansion  on individuals.

This New York Times article discusses how Iran has become an increasingly popular tourist destination for people from Western countries. It describes how Iran has been increasingly open to tourist arrivals after nuclear settlement they made in 2015, yet still needs to continue developing their tourism sector. 

This article reminds me of the class lecture, regarding tourism and the “nation branding” concepts. While the article mentioned that Iran still employs many rules that Westerners have to abide by, they are trying to get more people into their country by both emphasizing the “bells” of their culture, as well as demonstrating that they are a safer country. This could translate into potential money (as discussed in lecture) for Iran, as their tourism sector is hoping that more people travel there due to word of mouth.

This Economist article discusses a new report that compares individual's assets from different places around the world. It reinforces the idea that there is a lot of wealth in the world when it is all totaled up, but it is not even close to being equally spread. 

Contextualization: 

This article largely relates to the discussion of economic globalization that we discussed in lecture. In particular, we examined data that said 10%-60% of people from poorer nations are forced to survive on $1/day. Further, the class data said that people from Western nations are richer on the whole, with only 10-20% living on less than $11/day. This article shows how monetary inequalities are pervasive in the world, but that Americans are still richer overall. 

This The New York Times article describes how many people from Venezuela are migrating to nearby places, such as Curacao island. They are migrating illegally because the economic conditions in Venezuela are continuing to get worse, with a high inflation rate, lack of employment, and less food.

In lecture, we discussed how people migrate for economic reasons. In this case, the lines are blurred between moving for a better life or out of necessity. Venezuelans are willing to chance their lives to move away because of the lack of food and other resources, which could be seen as a threat rather than a choice. Further, while some Venezuelan family members are still stuck in Venezuela, migrants are sending remittances to help them get by in the horrible Venezuelan economic climate. 

This New York Times article discusses how Egypt needed a large loan from the I.M.F. because of many devastating economic issues currently happening in the country. The loan is aiming to repair the economy, after the government has struggled with money.

Although this article discusses how Egypt must adhere to certain requirements of getting a loan from the I.M.F., it largely reminds me of developing countries having to adopt the Washington Consensus to get loans as discussed in lecture. In both cases, the country in need is making concessions to get help; in adopting the Washington Consensus, countries had to accept neoliberal policies, which ultimately left many people behind. In Egypt’s current situation, individuals may initially struggle because of increased taxes and inflation. Citizens bear the burden in large global decisions.