Question 1.
Give two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place
before the seventeenth century, choosing one example from Asia and one from
the Americas.
Answer:
The two examples of different types of global exchanges which took place
before the seventeenth century were:
- From Asia: The Chinese noodles to the West became spaghetti; the Arab pasta to Italy; the Indian textiles to Europe.
- From America: Potatoes, soya, groundnuts, maize, tomatoes, chillies etc. were introduced to Europe from Americas.
Question 2.
Explain how the global transfer
of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the colonisation of the
Americas.
Answer:
The global transfer of disease in the pre-modern world helped in the
colonisation of Americas. The Spanish carried on their persons the germs of
smallpox when they came to Americas.
Question 3.
Write a note to explain the
effects of the following:
(a) The British
government’s decision to abolish the Com Laws.
(b) The coming of rinderpest to Africa.
(c) The death of men of working-age in Europe because of the World War.
(d) The Great Depression on the Indian economy.
(e) The decision of MNCs to relocate production of Asian countries.
Answer:
(a) The British Government’s
decision to abolish the Corn Laws made the government possible to import food
grains from other countries so to meet its demand of foodgrains.
(b) The coming of rinderpest (a disease of cattle plague), led to the loss of cattle on the continent; also the livelihood of the Africans leading them to join the labour market as slaves.
(c) The World War I led to the loss of human beings About 90 lakhs were dead and around 200 lakhs, (i.e., 2 crores), were injured. Most of them were those who belonged to the working age. Thus the loss was of manpower due to the war.
(d) The Great Depression had a damaging effect on the Indian economy: food production tell by 50% and jute production, by 60%, leading, thus, to unemployment. To meet their expenses, the Indians began buying things by selling gold.
(e) The respective governments of the MNCs imposed heavy import tariffs. So the MNCs began relocating their production to Asian countries.
Question 4.
Give two examples from history
to show the impact of technology on food availability.
Answer:
Technology had an impact on the
food availability. The introduction of the railway helped move fond
commodities from one region to another in the country; steamships, from one
country to the other. Food items and cottons were brought from Asia to Europe;
meat products, from Americas to Europe.
Question 5.
What is meant by the Bretton
Woods Agreement?
Answer:
Bretton Woods Agreement was an agreement so to preserve economic stability
and full employment in the industrial world. The agreement was made possible
in July 1944.
Discuss
Question 1.
Imagine that you are an
indentured Indian labourer in the Caribbean Drawing from the details in this
chapter, write a letter to your family describing your life and feelings.
Answer:
As an indentured Indian labourer I
working in the Caribbean, I would write a letter to a friend in India, as
follows:
‘Most of the Indians come to these
distanced j lands in the hope that our poverty would be removed through
salaries promised to them by the agents in India.
What was promised was not I practiced; contracts made were dishonoured in most cases, the nature of work is not what was told; working conditions are miserable, harsh and without any legal rights. Some who escaped faced reverse punishment and some who stayed back sought to live by making their new destinations as ‘mini India’.
Question 2.
Explain the three types of
movements or flows within international economic exchange. Find one example of
each type of flow which involved India and Indians, and write a short account
of it.
Answer:
Economists identify three types of movements or ‘flows’ within international
economic exchanges. The first is the flow of trade which in the nineteenth
century referred largely to trade in goods (e.g., cloth or wheat). The second
is the flow of labour – the migration of people in search of employment. The
third is the movement of capital for short-term or long-term investments over
long distances.
All three flows were closely interwoven and affected peoples lives more deeply now than ever before. The interconnections could sometimes be broken – for example, labour migration was often more restricted than goods or capital flows. Yet it helps us understand the nineteenth-century world economy better if we look at the three flows together.
Question 3.
Explain the causes of the Great
Depression.
Answer:
The causes of the Great Depression (1929-30) were numerous. Some of these
were:
- There was agricultural production more than it was needed Agricultural reproduction had no buyers.
- Prices of agricultural products fell owing to non-availability of the buyers both in the national and international market.
- Peasants’ income declined; they tried to expand production in the hope that more products would mean more income. There were no buyers in the market. This worsened the situation.
- The US loan in other countries, owing to slump in the market, created further problems. 1928, the US overseas loan amounted to over $1 million; a year later, it was one-quarter of it. This led to the crisis in the foreign countries.
Question 4.
Explain what is referred to as
the G-77 countries. In what ways can G-77 be seen as a reaction to the
activities of the Bretton Woods twins?
Answer:
The developing countries did not
benefit from the fast-growing Western economies. The Bretton Woods twins (the
IMF and the World Bank) did not help them. Therefore they organised themselves
as a group – the Group of 77 (or G-77)- to demand a”new international economic
order (NIEO). By NIEO, they meant a”system that would give them real control
over their natural resources, more development assistance, fairer prices for
raw materials, and bettle access for their manufactured goods in developed
countries markets.