Capital Auction Debrief

Starter 4: Watch the video above.  What is your reaction to this video?  How does this connect to the simulation we did yesterday?  Would the solutions he proposes work?  Why/why not?

Transnational Capital Auction Debrief

Choose 3 of the following 6 questions to answer in well-organized typed paragraphs.  Be specific, make connections, and use examples to support your reasoning.

1. Look over your auction "bids" for the fifth and final round of the Transnational Capital Auction -- on minimum wage, child labor, worker organizing, taxation rates, and environmental laws. If Capital were to accept your "bid" and come to your country, what would be the real human and environmental consequences there? 
2.  Based on your experience with the auction, agree and/or disagree with the following statement, and back up your answer with evidence: Poor countries need investment, so it's a good thing when transnational companies invest there.  It’s okay to take a middle position here.
3. The global process that we simulated in class is sometimes called "downward leveling" or the "race to the bottom." What, if anything, could people in poor countries do to stop this race to the bottom?  What could wealthier countries do?
4. One company used to manufacture all its products in the United States, paying wages that averaged (with benefits) around $16 an hour. The investment director for this company now travels every month to places like Indonesia, El Salvador, and Nicaragua looking for sites to produce his company's products. He says that he would prefer to keep all production in the United States. Based on this simulation and what you know, why do you think this person's company feels forced to send production to countries that have a lot of "Friendly to Capital" points?
5. What impact does the race to the bottom have on workers in the USA? In what ways might it affect your lives?
6. CHALLENGE QUESTION: What would Marx say about the “race to the bottom?”  What would Galtung say?  Explain your answer carefully, drawing on your knowledge of their theories and critiques (for an extra challenge, try to work hegemony in there!).

Jihad vs. McWorld: Reading and Annotating

1. Read and annotate the rest of the article (to page 227 in reader)
2. Need at least 3 annotations per page (remember, underlining and highlighting DO NOT count as annotations!)
3. Write two possible seminar questions at the end of the article (try to think of juicy discussion questions)
4. Write down two areas of confusion, non-discussion questions

HWK:

1. Finish and PRINT the Transnational Capital Auction writing.  DUE: Wednesday, Feb. 2nd, start of class.
2. Finish reading and annotating Jihad vs. McWorld.  DUE: Wednesday, Feb. 2nd, start of class.

DUE: Jihad vs. McWorld, read and annotated to page 220, paragraph 2.