Copyright: Malcolm McInerney 2015
Image above: Thinking economically through the economic concepts of the Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business (not official ACARA work)
HaSS links
HaSS Association Australia
Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
Geography Teachers Association of South Australia
History Teachers Association of South Australia
History Teachers Association of Australia
Humsteach
GeogSpace
Geogaction
Economics in geography
When writing the geography curriculum numerous discussions occurred on the need to have a commensurate amount of economic geography in the curriculum. Lead writer Alaric Maude, a strong advocate for the economic branch of geography, highlighted the importance of students gaining an understanding of the economic aspect when studying geographical issues, events and phenomenon. Whilst some may think economics is not geography, it certainly is a critical component of geographical thinking, whether studying development, industry, environmental protection, energy etc - in fact almost everything a geographer explores has an economic aspect. With the subject of Economics and Business as part of the HASS learning area it is certainly opportune to mention the integration possibilities of economics with the geography curriculum.
An Economics and Business Concept Wheel (not official ACARA work)
Just as is the case
with the Geography curriculum, seven concepts can be identified as the 'thinking' core of the Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business. The concepts of Resources, Consumerism, Market, Globalisation, Choice, Work and Opportunity (and their embedded concepts as shown in the wheel below) can be seen throughout the Economics and Business curriculum and certainly resonate with the economic sustainability thinking in the geography curriculum. Whilst a
work in progress and not official ACARA work, teachers are finding that
the concept wheel below is an interesting way to conceptualise the
Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business and to integrate the economics curriculum into the geography curriculum as they develop their
learning programs.
Copyright: Malcolm McInerney 2015
At this stage it is worth looking at a definition of economic geography and see the synergy between economics and geography and that when thinking geographically it is impossible to not think economically.
Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution
and spatial organization of economic activities across the world. .Economic geography has taken a variety of approaches to many
different subject matters, including but not limited to the location of
industries, economies of agglomeration (also known as "linkages"), transportation, international trade, development, real estate, gentrification, ethnic economies, gendered economies, core-periphery theory, the economics of urban form,
the relationship between the environment and the economy (tying into a
long history of geographers studying culture-environment interaction),
and globalisation.
The Geography and Economics synergy
Whilst on about economics and geography the following information/resources are some good examples of how we must talk about geography when talking economics and vice versa.
* The top global economies: the world is a-changing
Just to get thinking going and elaborate my economic ignorance, this article from the Bloomberg Business site on the 20 fastest growing economies in 2015 was worth showcasing.
The the 20 fastest growing economies in 2015
Summary of information:
Emerging markets in Asia and Africa still reign supreme: They're at
the top of global growth projections over the next two years.
The world is expected to grow 3.2 percent in 2015 and 3.7 percent
next year after expanding 3.3 percent in each of the past two years,
according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. China, the Philippines,
Kenya, India and Indonesia, which together make up about 16 percent of
global gross domestic product, are all forecast to grow more than 5
percent in 2015.
By comparison, the U.S. and U.K., which combined account for about a
quarter of global growth, are expected to grow 3.1 percent and 2.6
percent this year, respectively. The euro area probably will expand just
1.2 percent as European Central Bank President Mario
China still remains the fastest-growing G-20 nation, even though the
Asian economy is no longer expanding at the pace it did a few years ago.
China's economy grew 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 from a year earlier, and is expected to slow to 7 percent in 2015.
To counter that slowdown, People's Bank of China policy makers are
boosting monetary stimulus. The central bank cut its benchmark interest
rate in November for the first time since 2012. This month officials
lowered by 50 basis points the deposit reserve ratio, which is the
amount of reserves that banks need to keep on hand.
Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, is projected to expand 4.9 percent
this year, according to the Bloomberg survey. Kenya will probably grow 6
percent in 2015, even as unemployment and poverty remain stubbornly
high, with over 40 percent of Kenyans living below the poverty line.
U.S. growth forecasts for 2015 are coalescing around 3 percent even
as the dollar soars to its highest level in more than a decade. As
growth picks up, the Federal Reserve is weighing whether to raise
interest rates for the first time since 2006. Their benchmark federal
funds rate has remained near zero since December 2008.
* The other side of the coin - The economics of poverty
The poverty education website at http://www.povertyeducation.org is a great resource to show the economic diversity across the glob and try to understand and explain the variance
