sethdixon

Author

sethdixon

I am a geography professor at Rhode Island College.

Income and Wealth Inequality

Inequality is a big, big subject. There’s racial inequality, gender inequality, and lots and lots of other kinds of inequality. This is Econ, so we’re going to talk about wealth inequality and income inequality. There’s no question that economic inequality is real. But there is disagreement as to whether income inequality is a problem, and what can or should be done about it.

Source: www.youtube.com

There are many of the 35 videos in the Economics crash course set that touch on geographic issues. This crash course team explains the difference between wealthy inequality and income inequality. This video also has a nice laymen’s explanation of the GINI coefficient and how it measures inequality. In another video in the series, they demonstrate how globalization can be seen as the path to economic growth and others see the process of globalization as what has created poverty.

Tags: development, labor, globalization, economic, industry, poverty, crash course.

March 15, 2018 0

How Dollar General Is Transforming Rural America

“Dollar General stores thrive in low-income rural towns, and the deep-discount chain has opened hundreds of new shops in the past year.”

Dollar General is set to open 1,000 locations this year, for a total of more than 14,000 stores. It will have more stores than McDonald’s has restaurants in the entire country. That includes plenty of urban locations, but the chain’s bright yellow and black signs pop up about every 10 miles along many remote state highways. Like Walmart, it has rural roots. Dollar General started in small-town Kentucky. Al Cross, who runs the Institute for Rural Journalism at the University of Kentucky, says Dollar General competes with the world’s largest retailer on price and convenience.

Tags: rural, retail, podcast.

Source: www.npr.org

March 12, 2018 0

Obesity: not just a rich-world problem

“Obesity is a global problem, but more people are getting fatter in developing countries than anywhere else. If current trends continue, obese children will soon outnumber those who are undernourished. Nearly half of the world’s overweight and obese children under five years old, live in Asia. And in Africa, the number of overweight children under five has increased by nearly 50% since 2000. Hunger still blights many parts of the world. But the share of people who do not have enough to eat is in decline. Globally one in nine people in the world suffer from chronic undernourishment. One in ten are obese. If current trends continue, the share of obese children in the world will surpass the number of undernourished by 2022. Africa has the fastest-growing middle class in the world. A move from traditional foods to high-calorie fast food and a more sedentary lifestyle is driving the rise in obesity. Health systems in Africa, more focused on treating malnourishment and diseases like malaria and HIV, are ill equipped to deal with obesity-related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. “

Tags: mortality, medical, development, food.

Source: www.youtube.com

March 8, 2018 0

Are Americans trashing the English language?

“Are American’s trashing the English language? The Economists language expert, Lane Greene, knows a thing or two about English. Lane is a fan of words, lots of words, and Lane is an American living in London. He’s become accustomed to British English slang. But Lane often hears Britons complain that there are too many American words and expressions creeping into British English, these are called Americanisms. British writer Matthew Engel can’t stand Americanisms being used in Britain and even wrote a book about it. But are Americanisms trashing British English?”

Source: www.youtube.com

This video touches on important cultural and spatial dynamics of the linguistic change impacting the world’s current lingua franca…in other words, this is incredibly relevant to human geography.

Tags: language, culture, worldwide, English, diffusion,

colonialism.

March 5, 2018 0

China will soon have air power rivaling the West’s – No longer just catch-up

“China’s president, Xi Jinping, wants to be able to challenge America’s military might in the western Pacific. He is making big progress. China’s once bloated armed forces are becoming leaner and a lot more capable. They are also benefiting from a defense budget that is growing at a steady 6-7% a year, in line with GDP. The IISS declares that China has become an innovator in military technology and is not merely ‘catching up’ with the West. For some of the most advanced science, Mr. Xi is tapping the private sector. The Pentagon has to woo skeptical Silicon Valley companies; firms in China do what the government tells them to do. In two years’ time, if not before, America is likely to lose its monopoly of radar-beating stealth combat aircraft with the introduction into service of China’s Chengdu J-20.”

Tags: political, military, China, geopolitics, East Asia.

Source: www.economist.com

March 1, 2018 0

How a Steel Box Changed the World: A Brief History of Shipping

“As the container shipping industry continues to boom, companies are adopting new technologies to move cargo faster and shifting to crewless ships. But it’s not all been smooth sailing and the future will see fewer players stay above water.”

Source: www.youtube.com

This WSJ video, similar to an animated TED-ED video, explains some of the geographic consequences of economic innovation. Containerization has remade the world we live in, and will continue to see it drive economic restructuring.

Tags: transportation, labor, globalization, diffusion, industry, economic.

February 26, 2018 0

The brutal world of sheep fighting: the illegal sport beloved by Algeria’s ‘lost generation’

“Algeria’s ‘lost generation’ has been shaped by years of conflict, unemployment and state repression. Sheep fighting offers an arena where young men can escape the constant supervision of the state.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

I must confess that it was a mixture of morbid curiosity, the allure of the strangely exotic, with more than a dash of horror that initially impelled me to read this article. If if is not your thing (and I’m guessing that by the title you should already know), I certainly understand and don’t recommend that you read it. However, there was some intriguing geography in the article as it painted a bleak picture of disenfranchised young men in a pent-up country that did not experience an Arab Spring. Some elements in this article that I thing might intrigue geography teachers are: the pastoral folk culture of North Africa impacting their popular culture pastimes, complexly gendered cultural customs and place-based cultural politics.

Tags: culture, gender, sport, folk cultures, Algeria, Middle East.

February 22, 2018 0

Italy’s regional divisions

“150 years after its unification, Italy remains riven by regional differences.” For more of these videos, visit http://arcg.is/1IeK3dT

Source: www.youtube.com

Italy’s a country that we may think of as monolithic, but (like so many other countries) it has some deep and persistent regional distinctions. These videos are older, but the the divisions discussed are still pertinent. Stratfor also added a video of Italy in their “Geographic Challenge” series. I’ve updated my map which spatially indexes 70+ of their videos that are especially relevant to geography teachers to include this one. These videos are great starting points for students that are researching a particular country.

Tags: video, geography education, Italy, Europe, regions.

February 19, 2018 0