Academic literature on the topic 'Americans – Employment – China'

Rather less has been written about the social, political, and environmental impacts of China on Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) than the economic impacts. In terms of social impacts, the chapter considers the effects in terms of both employment and the way in which Chinese companies in the extractive industries have affected local communities. In LAC, discussion of the political implications have mainly focussed on whether or not China’s growing presence represents a threat to US interests in the region, but there is no evidence that China is exercising undue political influence in the region as the case studies of Brazil and Venezuela illustrate. There is little systematic evidence concerning the environmental impacts, although the case of soybeans illustrates the potential negative consequences of growing demand from China.

At first glance, it would appear that tourism is ubiquitous; it is a global activity that is experienced in all countries, with every country having an equal stake. However, this is misleading as it has been demonstrated that international tourism is ‘dominated by relatively few countries’, with tourism being described as an activity ‘open to an elite only‘. As such, tourism has traditionally been engaged in by those who are from prosperous countries, who have higher incomes and stable and secure societies (Todd, 2001: 12). International tourism is dominated by the ‘wealthier, industrialised world’ (Sharpley, 2018: 50), with the major tourism flows occurring between the more developed countries or from developed countries to developing countries. In recent years some new destinations such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have emerged (Weaver and Lawton, 2014), challenging the dominance of the traditional generating and receiving countries. However, the majority of travel is still undertaken by tourists from traditional tourism generating regions of Europe, North America and parts of South East Asia (Sharpley, 2018: 50). Despite this concentration of tourist origins, many countries around the world are interested in receiving tourists for the economic benefits including local employment and foreign currency. Todd (2001: 14) suggests that if every country in the world had ‘peace with its neighbours and a rational approach to development’, they could see tourism play its part in developing their economies. From a demand side perspective, ‘rising real incomes, expanding discretionary spending, increasing leisure time, faster and cheaper transport and the spread of global awareness through the printed and broadcast media and... through the internet’ fuel tourism growth (Todd, 2001: 15). But the question remains, what will happen to tourism in the future?

I have tried in this book to summarize where the world economy has come from in the past three centuries and to set out the core of the agenda that lies before us as we face the century ahead. This century, for the first time since the mid-18th century, will come to be dominated by stagnant or falling populations. The conclusions at which I have arrived can usefully be divided in two parts: one relates to what can be called the political economy of the 21st century; the other relates to the links between the problem of the United States playing steadily the role of critical margin on the world scene and moving at home toward a solution to the multiple facets of the urban problem. As for the political economy of the 21st century, the following points relate both to U.S. domestic policy and U.S. policy within the OECD, APEC, OAS, and other relevant international organizations. There is a good chance that the economic rise of China and Asia as well as Latin America, plus the convergence of economic stagnation and population increase in Africa, will raise for a time the relative prices of food and industrial materials, as well as lead to an increase in expen ditures in support of the environment. This should occur in the early part of the next century, If corrective action is taken in the private markets and the political process, these strains on the supply side should diminish with the passage of time, the advance of science and innovation, and the progressively reduced rate of population increase. The government, the universities, the private sector, and the professions might soon place on their common agenda the delicate balance of maintaining full employment with stagnant or falling populations. The existing literature, which largely stems from the 1930s, is quite illuminating but inadequate. And the experience with stagnant or falling population in the the world economy during post-Industrial Revolution times is extremely limited. This is a subject best approached in the United States on a bipartisan basis, abroad as an international problem. It is much too serious to be dealt with, as it is at present, as a domestic political football.