Download Chapter 4 Closed Caption notes Completed

Chapter 4
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Thinking about the future and getting some good job skills are both good ways to prepare for the
future.
It’s also smart to get an idea of the kinds of goods and services that will be in demand in the future.
Because this information is always changing, you should also know where to get up-to-date
information.
KINDS OF JOBS
Economists categorize the kind of work people do into four main groups called sectors. These sectors
are:
Primary Sector: Work in this sector involves harvesting or extracting natural resources. For example
farming, fishing, forestry and mining.
Secondary Sector: Work in this sector is mostly construction or manufacturing.
Tertiary Sector: People working in this sector provide services to others. For example: salespeople, bus
drivers, medical professionals, actors, teachers and government workers.
Quaternary Sector: This economic sector involves working with ideas and information. Different types of
jobs include: working in laboratories to research new ideas and create new products, working in
communications and information technologies to create store and transmit information electronically.
Other occupations are computer programmers, systems analysts and computer operators.
Some people say there is a fifth economic sector, or an additional branch to the quaternary sector
Quinary Sector
Some consider there to be a branch of the quaternary sector called the quinary sector, which includes the
highest levels of decision making in a society or economy. This sector would include the top executives or
officials in such fields as government, science, universities, nonprofit, healthcare, culture, and the media.
An Australian source relates that the quinary sector in Australia refers to domestic activities such as those
performed by stay-at-home parents or homemakers. These activities are typically not measured by
monetary amounts but it is important to recognize these activities in contribution to the economy.
Diversified Economies: An economy that has a good balance of jobs in all sectors is called a diversified
economy. Today a diversified economy usually has the most jobs in the tertiary and quaternary sectors,
some jobs in the secondary and fewest in the primary sector.
Statistics: information in the form of numbers.
Trend: A pattern of change over time.
Graphs: make it easier to see a pattern or main idea in the statistics.
Circle Graph: Is good for showing what part of the whole something is.
When you show percentages the circle is made up of 100
Parts.
Line Graph: Is good for showing how something changes over time.
Bar Graph: Is good for comparing two or more sets of statistics.
Pictograph: Makes a bar graph more interesting. It uses symbols or pictures to show a topic.
Effects of a Global Economy
The Canadian economy today depends on trade with other countries. Canada's main trading partner is the
United States, but we also trade with other countries around the world. There are many benefits to global
trade for Canada. Compared with the rest of the world we are rich in resources and low in population.
Being able to trade with other countries gives us a bigger market to trade with. However, global trade also
means that Canada doesn't control its own economy. If another country decides to put taxes on our
products or raise the price of products it is selling to Canada it can mean hard times for the Canadian
economy.
FOLLOWING THE TREND
Generally, the economies in countries around the world are following the same trend towards diversified
economies that Canada has followed. First industrialized, then diversified.
There are four different types of Global Economies identified:
1.
Agricultural
Economy based on agriculture to meet local needs. Some mining and manufacturing. Low standard of
living for most people.
2. Industrializing
Mining and manufacturing are common, but agriculture is still important. Low standard of living for most
people.
3.
Newly Industrialized
Mining and manufacturing have developed alongside traditional work such as farming. Mining and oil
extraction provide a high standard for a small part of the population.
4.
Diversified Economies
High standard of living based on manufacturing, service and information industries.
Forecasting the Future
There are two ways to predict the economic future. Economists use social trends and demographics as a
gauge to see where we are and where we are going.
Social Trends
Trends may not be about an economic issue, but they can still affect the economy. For example we may
want to stop global warming by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.
If we do pursue this in the long term we will not consume as much gas or oil which will affect the
economy.
Demographics: Statistics about the makeup of the population. including topics such as: the number of
people of each age group and sex, whether people are single or married, whether they live in the country
or city. When you analyze these types of statistics over time you can identify trends in society.
Economists look at the trends to try to figure out how they will affect the economy.