Canadian economic geography at the millennium

Over the last quarter of a century the Canadian economy experienced a series of profound changes which have affected every level of society. They include new forms of flexible production, fundamental changes in regulation at all spatial scales, structural shifts away from manufacturing towards service sector activities, the rise of information technology (IT) and computerization at the workplace, the feminization of the labour market, and, what has become the leitmotif of the age, globalization. Such changes are intimately connected with geography. By that we mean not merely that they take on a geographical form, but that geography is pan of their very constitution. In this sense Canadian economic geographers are exactly in the right time and the right place to make use of their skills. Indeed, over the last five years there has been an explosion of literature by Canadian economic geographers on precisely these kinds of changes that are simultaneously both economic and geographical. In reviewing that literature the paper begins by situating Canada within its wider global setting, which we then follow by surveying the diverse writing around the three broad sectors that make‐up the Canadian economy: the resource sector, the manufacturing sector, and the service sector. We conclude by highlighting two particular research themes within Canadian economic geography that have become especially germane over the late 1990s. The first is on new labour markets and forms of work both of which have been transformed during the last decade; and the second is on new forms of industrial innovation, which are clearly pivotal to the future well‐being of the country for the next millennium. Au cours des vingt‐cinq dernières années, l'économie canadienne a connu une série, de changements profonds qui ont affecté toutes les couches de la société. Ces changements comprennent les nouvelles formes de production flexible, les changements fondamentaux dans la réglementation à toutes les échelles spatiales, la mutation structurelle du secteur industriel au secteur tertiaire, la montée de la technologie de l'information (Tl) et l'informatisation sur le lieu de travail, la présence plus importante des femmes sur le marché du travail, et, ce qui est devenu le leitmotiv de notre époque, la mondialisation. De tels changements sont intimement liés à la geographie. Par la, nous ne disons pas simplement qu'ils prennent une forme géographique, mais que la géographie fait partie intégrante de leur constitution. Dans ce sens, les géographes‐économistes canadiens arrivent, si l'on peut dire, au bon endroit au bon moment pour mettre leurs connaissances à profit. En effet, on assiste depuis les cinq dernières années à une recrudescence impressionnante des travaux de géographes‐économistes canadiens portant, précisément, sur ces types de changements qui sont à la fois économiques et géographiques. En faisant le compte‐rendu de cette littérature scientifique, cet article situe d'abord le Canada dans son contexte mondial plus large, passe ensuite en revue ce qui a étéécrit au sujet des trois grands secteurs qui forment l'économie canadienne: les secteurs primaire, secondaire et tertiaire. Nous concluons en mettant en relief deux thèmes de recherches de la géographie économique canadienne qui sont devenus particulièrement pertinents depuis la fin des années 1990. Le premier traite des nouveaux marchés du travail et des nouvelles formes de travail, qui ont tous deux subi des transformations au cours de la dernière décennie. Le second traite des nouvelles formes d'innovation industrielle, qui sont cruciales pour le bien‐être futur du pays à l'aube du nouveau millénaire.     

The single European market: Institutions and economic policies

The article analyzes the need for clarification of the competencies to be attributed to national or local authorities in Italy in the face of new protagonists for economic development. Analyzing the structural problems and the regional disparities between European countries, the territorial dimension of the economic development policy, the example of the German political and administrative system and the principles of the new community approach, it points out the importance of recognizing the regional level of industrial policy. In particular, the article underlines the fact that the present variation between the north and the south of the European Community is certainly the result of a plurality of conditions, whose presence presupposes a stable social and institutional reality, motivated towards development which cannot be guaranteed by the lack of an efficient local public system, endowed with adequate resources and competence to deal with new processes of development.     

Regional economic resilience: the role of national and regional policies

In recent years, economic resilience has become a popular term in both theory and policy practice. This interest was triggered by the fact that some regional economies were extremely vulnerable, while others have managed to overcome, more or less effectively, the worse consequences of the current economic crisis. Within this context, questions arise regarding the role that policies at both the national and subnational levels can play in shaping regional economic resilience. Although high in the academic and political agenda, understanding the policy and governance aspects of resilience still remains a relatively underdeveloped area. The paper contributes to this debate focusing on an area which has been most severely hit by crises, the Region of West Macedonia, in Greece. The case study builds on the historical trajectory of the region in order to explain how different types of policies have influenced the ability of West Macedonia to respond to economic slumps and crises of the last 30 years. Evidence suggests that national protectionist policies largely explain not only resilience of the region against previous crises, but also its vulnerability towards the still ongoing economic crisis.     

试论乌兰夫牧区经济工作思想

乌兰夫在领导内蒙古及全国牧区工作中,充分体现了他丰富的牧区经济思想、成功的牧区工作经验。牧区民主改革是发展牧区经济的重要前提条件;根据牧区的地区、民族、经济特点,制定发展牧区经济的各项政策;始终把发展和民生做为变革牧区生产关系的出发点和落脚点;把禁止开荒、保护生态、防沙治沙列为牧区经济发展的重中之重;把民族贸易、卫生、教育、文化事业做为发展牧区经济的重要举措。上述五个方面,充分体现了以人为本、发展是硬道理的理念。     

Evaluation of the spatial and economic effectiveness of industrial land policies in northwest Europe

This article stems from the discrepancy between the lack of attention paid to industrial land policy by academics and the predominant thought among elected representatives and development agencies, i.e. that industrial land policy plays a key role in the creation of growth and new jobs. The article begins with a reflection on the literature, which stresses the need to develop knowledge on industrial land policies. To help fill this research gap, we have developed an exploratory piece of research on the theme of their ‘spatial’ and ‘economic effectiveness’, on the basis of statistical analyses dedicated to seven countries. As regards ‘spatial effectiveness’, the results underline significant national differentials in terms of land consumption on the one hand, while highlighting the economic sprawl that affects France and Belgium on the other hand. As regards ‘economic effectiveness’, our results show that the impact of the development of economic estates on growth depends largely on regional contexts. In particular, the ‘intermediate regions’ in western Germany stand out as belonging to a specific context where land policies seem particularly effective from an economic standpoint. By contrast, the ‘economic effectiveness’ of industrial land policies requires readjustments in the Netherlands as well as in most ‘predominantly rural regions, close to a city’.     

巴西政府的经济政策和债务危机的形成(1974-1985)

由于经济发展的周期性和国际石油价格的上涨,20世纪70年代中期,巴西"经济奇迹"结束.但是,出于政治因素的考虑,70年代后期盖泽尔政府推行了"负债增长"的战略,进入80年代后,费格雷多政府依然拒绝实行经济紧缩政策,结果最终导致了巴西的债务危机和经济的全面衰退.     

The Index of Economic Disparity: Measuring trends in economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions and rural and urban communities

Territorial inequalities have long been a subject of study and concern in Canada. In the face of large structural changes such as industrial shifts and the decarbonization of our economies, there is an urgency to understand such inequalities and design effective policy interventions for those places facing persistent economic decline. This paper shares a novel composite index that measures economic disparity across Canadian Census Subdivisions (CSDs) using Census data from 2001 through 2016 and the 2011 National Household Survey. Named the “Index of Economic Disparity,” it is comprised of an equally weighted average of four sub-indices that assign percentile rankings for all CSDs based on whether they experience persistent and substantial decline in key economic areas: population, labour force outcomes, working-age share of population, and industrial diversity. The variation of outcomes across geographies—urban and rural—highlights the importance of place-based policies.     

The political requisites of an open international economic system: United States balance of payments policies during the 1960s

This paper explores the political context of an increasingly familiar phenomenon: unilateral interference with international trade and payments. The particular case examined is that of US balance of payments policy between 1960 and 1971, during which time the country which had been the world's foremost advocate of an open world economy attempted to separate the US and international capital markets. The policy is explained at two levels: systemic political imperatives to explain the overall structure of policy choices, and domestic bureaucratic politics to explain the changing sources and objectives of policy. The Bretton Woods system linked US political power to the international monetary system in such a way as to leave the US no choices but those of capital export controls or the destruction of the entire system, as the US balance of payments moved into deficit. The domestic policy process reacting to these international strains followed a pattern of progressive politicisation, which lifted the issue out of the hands of the Treasury and into the White House. Finally, it is suggested that an examination of the political structures which led to restrictive policies in the monetary sphere may shed some light on the current trends toward protectionism in the trade area.     

加拿大洛矶山天堂家园（下）

地球上很少有这样美丽的地方,几千里连绵不断的雪峰,数不清的冰川和瀑布,在它们中间点缀着无数或奶蓝色或翠绿色的冰湖,森林中草甸里还出没着大量的棕熊、黑熊、驯鹿、糜鹿、山羊、大角羊、草原狼……这就是坐落在加拿大境内的洛矶山(Canadian Rockies)。虽然每年有五百多万游客慕名前来度假游览,虽然这里修建了高速公路和很多酒店,但因为保护措施得当,这片土地依然保留了它本身的面貌,人与自然仍旧可以和谐的共存。     

加拿大洛矶山天堂家园（上）

地球上很少有这样美丽的地方,几千里连绵不断的雪峰,数不清的冰川和瀑布,在它们中间点缀着无数或奶蓝色或翠绿色的冰湖,森林中草甸里还出没着大量的棕熊、黑熊、驯鹿、糜鹿、山羊、大角羊、草原狼……这就是坐落在加拿大境内的洛矶山(Canadian Rockies)。虽然每年有五百多万游客慕名前来度假游览,虽然这里修建了高速公路和很多酒店,但因为保护措施得当,这片土地依然保留了它本身的面貌,人与自然仍旧可以和谐的共存。     

Nuclear testing and pacific defence policies

Robert Milliken, No Conceivable Injury, Ringwood, Penguin Books, 1986. $7.95 (paper)

Denys Blakeway & Sue Lloyd‐Roberts, Fields of Thunder: Testing Britain's Bomb, London, Unwin Paperbacks, 1985. $9.95 (paper)

Bengt Danielsson and Marie‐Therese Danielsson, Poisoned Reign: French Nuclear Colonialism in the Pacific, Ringwood, Penguin Books, 1986. $9.95 (paper)

Peter Hayes, Lyuba Zarsky and Walden Bello, American Lake: Nuclear Peril in the Pacific, Ringwood, Penguin Books, 1986. $14.95 (paper)

Michael O'Connor, To Live in Peace, Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1985. $9.50 (paper).