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Europe OCR tomorrow.

Well chaps, looks as if the time hath arrived! Europe synoptic paper tomorrow. If you find is useful, here's a mock paper that I've been provided with, based on predictions for what will turn up in the paper:

I hope this helps:

a) Using Extract 1:
i) Compare textile output between 1990 and 2001 (3)

ii) Compare the UK's textile share of manufacturing with that of France between 1990 and 2001. (3)

b) Analyse the reasons why Italy has a significant competitive advantage over the UK in the textile and clothing industry. (Extract 2) (9)

c) Comment on whether market failure can be associated with the textile industry (Extract 3) (10)

d) Discuss the macroeconomic implications to the Italian economy of increased global competition in the textile and clothing industry. (Extract 4) (15)

e)* Do the 'bra wars' provide suitable justification for the introduction of protectionist measures in the EU? (Extract 5) (20)

Please share thoughts and ask questions, make this an active thread!

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Reply 1
I really hope questions along them lines come up, not something rightwing and unpredictale...
Cheers, I'm assuming these are out of Jim Riley's pack from tutor2u.
They're great questions actually, I'd love them all pretty much to come up, maybe apart from c:

Comment on whether market failure can be associated with the textile industry:
I'd define market failure, and it's four main types, imperfect comp., negative externalities, merit/public goods, factor immobility.

Talk about imperfect competition being somewhat reduced given EU enlargement in recent years, brought a more competitive industry as more firms have entered the market...not necessarily that much more contestable though.

Negative externalities, pick up on the main ones in extract 3 and discuss to what extent they produce "spillover effects paid for by the 3rd party".

Merit/public goods, that new type of material in Switzerland may be considered one, as relative to it's peers it's far cleaner, therefore may need government intervention in the form of subsidisation, but then clothes are bought on many more factors opposed to simply price.

And finally resource immobility, not too sure, labour is relatively mobile in the textile industry, as is capital.

Conclude saying that in terms of factor immobility and imperfect competition it is not a massive case of market failure, however when considering negative externalities and the need to promote this more environmentally friendly type of material, market failure can be associated.
Reply 3
holdyourcolour
Cheers, I'm assuming these are out of Jim Riley's pack from tutor2u.
They're great questions actually, I'd love them all pretty much to come up, maybe apart from c:

Comment on whether market failure can be associated with the textile industry:
I'd define market failure, and it's four main types, imperfect comp., negative externalities, merit/public goods, factor immobility.

Talk about imperfect competition being somewhat reduced given EU enlargement in recent years, brought a more competitive industry as more firms have entered the market...not necessarily that much more contestable though.

Negative externalities, pick up on the main ones in extract 3 and discuss to what extent they produce "spillover effects paid for by the 3rd party".

Merit/public goods, that new type of material in Switzerland may be considered one, as relative to it's peers it's far cleaner, therefore may need government intervention in the form of subsidisation, but then clothes are bought on many more factors opposed to simply price.

And finally resource immobility, not too sure, labour is relatively mobile in the textile industry, as is capital.

Conclude saying that in terms of factor immobility and imperfect competition it is not a massive case of market failure, however when considering negative externalities and the need to promote this more environmentally friendly type of material, market failure can be associated.


You're right, this question is tricky. Especially as extract 3 seems only to focus on the environmental consequences of the textile industry... hence any other information will have to have originated from your own knowledge....
My main concerns for tomorrow are very EU focussed questions, anything generally oriented to macro/micro economics in the are ok, but when it starts to question benefits of the Euro (I doubt highliy) or benefits of single market/enlargement I'm going to have to call on cram knowledge.
Reply 5
holdyourcolour
My main concerns for tomorrow are very EU focussed questions, anything generally oriented to macro/micro economics in the are ok, but when it starts to question benefits of the Euro (I doubt highliy) or benefits of single market/enlargement I'm going to have to call on cram knowledge.


I would argue against the Euro and certainly against the single market...
But that's for political reasons.
It is a fact, however, that the Single currency, imposed on an expanding EU is unable to take into consideration the individual needs of each nation state... and as such, a generic interest rate across the whole of the Eurozone does not take into consideration a boom in, say, London compared to a deep recession in, for example, East Germany....
Reply 6
Also, take into considerations the menu-costs, £ ---> Euro.
And the fact that we have to wait for our business cycles to align so a) we're not loosing too much and b) France and Germany let us in!
The ability to argue for and against something is quite good in terms of discussion, however I'd personally argue against the Euro, but for the EU, however somewhat hypocritical in that long term membership of the EU puts pressure on the UK to enter the Eurozone.

In terms of the benefits of the EU I'd talk about greater competition, greater FDI, greater trade and potentially less unemployment as people move about to find jobs - the discussion then really comes on your political slant I guess.

I'm pro-EU in the sense that a lot of our trade goes on inside in the EU, the increase in NMS states will push productive advantage and give consumers cheaper prices.
The expense on unemployment in the UK isn't really a factor for me given our shift from secondary to tertiary and quaternary goods as most cost advantages from competition are coming from capital intensive goods that are low cost.
It's merely an incentive to de-industrialise further and focus on what we have an advantage in, high-tech goods (I would call pharmaceuticals one personally) and services due to our relatively strong education system.

We also have a lot of influence in Europe due to the economies size and we can manipulate it to an extent to reap the most benefit out of it. Of course there's the problems with CAP and the fact we're putting more into the EU development fund than we're getting out.
Fiscal harmonisation in terms of policies is definitely limiting our ability to be as productive as possible due to policies such as maximum working hours per week.

Meh...dunno..thought I'd blad to revise in my head...
Reply 8
Why would greater competition emerge as a result of the single currency?
Not out of the single currency, but enlargement in the EU.
Single currency I think of as pretty worthless.

The lack of monetary policy puts us at the mercy of the ECB, however some firms have openly said the lack of the Euro in the UK has put them off investing (might have been Honda that said this).
Reply 10
holdyourcolour
Not out of the single currency, but enlargement in the EU.
Single currency I think of as pretty worthless.

The lack of monetary policy puts us at the mercy of the ECB, however some firms have openly said the lack of the Euro in the UK has put them off investing (might have been Honda that said this).


Yes, I've heard that. But also I've heard another well-known MNC (LG, I think?) say that they were attracted to the British market over the other EU nations due to our flexible labour laws.
Reply 11
But as you said, we're a de-industrialising nation, and as we move into the tertiary and quaternary sector, this becomess a feature of less significance.... a point that would be well made when talking about a pro-free market argument with the decline of Italian textiles... .and protectionism simply delays the inevitable and disallows a move towards another good in the Italian market for which they have a comparative advantage.
Reply 12
My teacher gave us his predicted questions - he's been right for the last two years so hopefully he will make it three in a row! They look really similar to the ones that Ben posted, once you've got past the phrasing.

1a) Summarise the data on the textile and clothing industry shown in extract one (6)

1b) Using extract 2, analyse the determinants of competitiveness that have contributed to the differing fortunes of the UK and ITalian textile and clothing industries (9)

2) Comment upon the extent to which the environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry is economically detrimental (10) (extract 3) (ie externalities)

3) Comment on the impact of Chinese competition on the Italian textile and clothing industries (and consider the contribution that EU regional policy might make to areas that have found themselves vulnerable to increased global competition) (15) (extract 4)

4) Discuss the macroeconomic implications of continued competitive pressure being exerted by China and consider the merits of continuing to use protectionist measures as a long term solution (20)

Good luck everyone!
You're anti-protectionism as well :tongue:
I'm in the middle between the 2.

I think if we look at the larger picture in terms of the EU, not strictly Britain there is a trade off between economic benefits and individual benefits.

By protecting using tariffs for example we keep the Italian economy healthy in the sense that employment remains strong and there is continued confidence, i.e spending will remain, yes there will be inflationary pressures, but I think that Chinese goods are priced that low that you can tariff them and they still don't push costs up that much (personally).
The cost for individual consumers goes up, but the cost for the economy potentially falls.


If we let a few textile/manufacturing economies fall inside the EU they may potentially bring the rest of the ship down. If unemployment rises in Italy it will affect exports for other countries, and intra-EU trade makes up a lot of trade for the nations of the EU.

I'm pro short-term protectionism, in the sense that we use it to give time to nations to focus on what they can specialise in, let them start putting down the foundations to change and ease the economy into place, opposed to opening the flood gates and forcing them to change very quickly which may lead to inefficiencies.

I think in the long run we may be able to compete with China somewhat more effectively. China's currently has no labour laws, pressure will be placed on China to reform and give workers more rights, and workers have already began demanding more wages. The Chinese bank recently put up interest rates to fight inflation, and I believe firms might experience diseconomies of scale, one Chinese oil company has 350,000 employees for example. Some of the newer NMS might be able to compete with enough investment as their incomes are low enough for now...
Reply 14
Crest
My teacher gave us his predicted questions - he's been right for the last two years so hopefully he will make it three in a row! They look really similar to the ones that Ben posted, once you've got past the phrasing.

1a) Summarise the data on the textile and clothing industry shown in extract one (6)

1b) Using extract 2, analyse the determinants of competitiveness that have contributed to the differing fortunes of the UK and ITalian textile and clothing industries (9)

2) Comment upon the extent to which the environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry is economically detrimental (10) (extract 3) (ie externalities)

3) Comment on the impact of Chinese competition on the Italian textile and clothing industries (and consider the contribution that EU regional policy might make to areas that have found themselves vulnerable to increased global competition) (15) (extract 4)

4) Discuss the macroeconomic implications of continued competitive pressure being exerted by China and consider the merits of continuing to use protectionist measures as a long term solution (20)

Good luck everyone!


Thanks Crest, all the best for tomorrow matey.
4) Discuss the macroeconomic implications of continued competitive pressure being exerted by China and consider the merits of continuing to use protectionist measures as a long term solution (20)


Thats two questions in one!
Thats basically commenting on the effects of China (could right 3 odd pages on that), then comment on the use of protectionism (3/4 pages)
Reply 16
holdyourcolour
I think in the long run we may be able to compete with China somewhat more effectively. China's currently has no labour laws, pressure will be placed on China to reform and give workers more rights, and workers have already began demanding more wages. The Chinese bank recently put up interest rates to fight inflation, and I believe firms might experience diseconomies of scale, one Chinese oil company has 350,000 employees for example. Some of the newer NMS might be able to compete with enough investment as their incomes are low enough for now...


It's quite funny really, seeing as China is apparantly a "workers' republic". Part-time Commies!
Reply 17
Crest
My teacher gave us his predicted questions - he's been right for the last two years so hopefully he will make it three in a row! They look really similar to the ones that Ben posted, once you've got past the phrasing.

1a) Summarise the data on the textile and clothing industry shown in extract one (6)

1b) Using extract 2, analyse the determinants of competitiveness that have contributed to the differing fortunes of the UK and ITalian textile and clothing industries (9)

2) Comment upon the extent to which the environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry is economically detrimental (10) (extract 3) (ie externalities)

3) Comment on the impact of Chinese competition on the Italian textile and clothing industries (and consider the contribution that EU regional policy might make to areas that have found themselves vulnerable to increased global competition) (15) (extract 4)

4) Discuss the macroeconomic implications of continued competitive pressure being exerted by China and consider the merits of continuing to use protectionist measures as a long term solution (20)

Good luck everyone!


By the way, Crest, I don't suppose you have your answers to this question typed up? If so, could you email them to me? It would be useful to see what you put, and whether or not they match my answers.
Many thanks,
Ben ([email protected])
Reply 18
Thanks for those questions crest! I have to say though, i hope they're written more direct to the point in the exam. It'd take me 20 minutes to process what they were asking me!

What kind of revision is everyone doing? I'm writing my own questions on what i think will come up! Then again i'm trying not too look too far into it in case i miss the most significant points.

There's also another problem i hope someone can help me with....I know quite alot of stuff surrounding the case, you know about the state of the Italian economy etc now-am i allowed to mention this within my answers?

Thanks alot...

Here's a question i'm looking at to tie everything together...

"Discuss whether Italy's situation would've been better, had it not have joined the EMU (20)"

I feel there are strong links to single market advantages, and the Euro throughout the case...
Reply 19
Mylittleralph
Here's a question i'm looking at to tie everything together...
"Discuss whether Italy's situation would've been better, had it not have joined the EMU (20)"
I feel there are strong links to single market advantages, and the Euro throughout the case...


Eek! That's one heck of a question, does it relate to any of the extracts?

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