Download Ch. 4 Economic Geography

Economic Geography
Economic Systems
• All economic systems must make three basic
economic decisions: what goods and services
should be produced, how they should be
produced, and who gets the goods and services
that are produced.
• The U.S. economy is a mixed economy in which
the government supports and regulates the free
market.
• There are three types of economies: traditional
economy: habit and custom determine
economic rules; market economy: individuals
and private groups decide what to produce; and
command economy: the government owns or
directs the means of production.
Economic Geography
Economic Development
• Geographers and economists classify economic
activities into four types.
• Primary economic activities involve taking or
using natural resources directly from Earth.
• Secondary economic activities use raw
materials to make a product that is new and
more valuable.
• Tertiary economic activities provide services
to people and businesses.
• Quaternary economic activities process,
manage, and distribute information.
Economic Geography
Economies and World Trade
• World trade is the exchange of capital, labor,
goods, and services between countries.
• Countries export their specialized products,
trading them to other countries that cannot
produce those goods.
• International trade is typically more costly than
domestic trade due to tariffs, time costs, and
expenses associated with different languages,
legal systems, or other cultural barriers.