Lesson 4: The Global Economy and Immigration

Contents:
Objectives
Materials
Procedures and Activities

Objectives: The student will be able to:

• Describe the changing nature of the global economy.
• Evaluate the impact of global population growth upon immigration trends.
• Compare the economic growth and development of the Pittsburgh region with similar metropolitan areas around the country.
• Evaluate the impact of the new economy and new immigration patterns upon Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Materials:

Student Handout: Pittsburgh, Immigration, and the Global Economy

Procedures and Activities:

1. Distribute the student handout Pittsburgh, Immigration, and the Global Economy.
   1. Direct students to examine the first two sections: “The U.S. is Increasingly a Trading Nation.”
   2. Ask students: “If access to the global economy has increased from $4 trillion to $21 trillion, what opportunities does that create for American businesses?” “What opportunities does that create for foreign firms here in the United States?”
   3. Ask students the changing role of imports and exports in our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). (You may wish to define GDP for the class if they are unfamiliar with the term: The total value of goods and services produced in the country in a given year.) Ask them: “Given the increased importance of trade in our economy, will this increase or decrease our contact and involvement with foreign peoples and cultures? Why?” “Why does this make it even more important that we understand what is going on in the world around us?”
2. Direct students to examine the “Economic Growth and Exports (1993–1999)” graph.
   1. Ask students: “What does this graph tell you about the importance of exports in the economies of our major cities?”
   2. Ask students to locate Pittsburgh on the graph and to compare its growth in Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) and exports to the other major cities on the graph. (You may wish to define GMP for the class if they are unfamiliar with the term: The total value of goods and services produced in a city and its surrounding area in a given year.) Ask them: “How does Pittsburgh compare in its economic growth with the other cities on the chart. How might you account for this?”
   3. Ask students to compare Pittsburgh’s growth in GMP with its growth in exports. Ask them: “How important do exports appear to be in the growth of Pittsburgh’s economy?” “What does it tell us about Pittsburgh’s connection to the global marketplace and the peoples and cultures within it?”
3. Direct students to examine the “Global Population Growth” sections.
   1. Ask students what kinds of things they hope to have for themselves in the future, as they grow into adults: type of job, house, family and children, education, etc. List their responses on the chalkboard. Ask students: “How does our society provide the opportunity to achieve these goals?”
   2. Write the following statement from the previous lesson’s Migration and Acculturation handout on the chalkboard: “Today, most large-scale migration occurs from developing countries to developed, industrialized countries like the United States.”
      1. Ask students to evaluate the statistic that over 50% of the population in most developing countries is under the age of 25. Ask them: “What do you think they want in their futures?” “What do you think they see when they see images of America?” “Might this increase or decrease voluntary migration to this country? Why?”
   3. Ask students: “If 90% of global population growth is occurring in developing countries, and most of our immigrants come from developing countries, what does that imply for the future of immigration?”
4. Direct students to examine the “Population Growth (%) 1900–2000” graph.
   1. Ask students to evaluate the importance of the graph for Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania. Ask them: “Although the U.S. population has been growing, what has happened to population here in Southwestern Pennsylvania?” “How might you account for that?”
   2. Ask students: “What do you think might attract people to this region?” “What might attract immigrants to Southwestern Pennsylvania?”
5. Direct students to read the next two sections: “Immigration Patterns” and “Why are they Coming?”
   1. Ask students: “Why do you think immigration has tripled since 1970?”
   2. Direct the attention of the students to the statistic that the U.S. represents 25% of the global economy but less than 5% of the world’s population. Ask students: “What does mean for our standard of living?” “Why might our standard of living be attractive to people in developing countries?”
   3. Direct the attention of students to the statistic that the U.S. has an $8 billion trade surplus in education. (E.g., more money is spent by foreigners on education in the United States than Americans spend attending schools overseas.) Ask students: “What do you think is attracting foreigners to American universities? What do we have to offer?”
   4. Ask students to compare the reasons why the new immigrants are coming to the reasons immigrants came in the past. Ask them: “Are the reasons similar or different? Why?” “If the reasons are so similar, what does that tell you about the status of the American Dream in the eyes of immigrants?”
6. Direct students to examine the “Where They are Coming From” graph in the next section.
   1. Ask students to identify those areas that have contributed the highest percentage of immigrants since 1990, according to the Census.
   2. Ask students to look more closely at the graph and to group the first four columns together as one because they all represent people of, primarily, Hispanic descent. Ask students to calculate the total percentage for the group. (Over 50%)
   3. Ask students to reflect on the “urban village” concept as discussed in the previous lesson. Ask them: “Let’s take the Hispanic immigrant as an example. If you were an immigrant from an Hispanic culture, where in the U. S. would you want to live? In what type of cultural environment?”
7. Direct students to read the final section: “The Impact on Pittsburgh.”
   1. Ask students: “What type of immigrants appear to have been attracted to the Pittsburgh area?” “Would they qualify as voluntary or involuntary immigrants? Why?” “Since these immigrants are more likely to have advanced degrees, what expectations would they have for their standard of living?”
   2. Direct students to focus on the quote “It doesn't have the kind of settled, recently arrived immigrant community to help attract others.” Ask students: “How does this differ from Pittsburgh’s past immigrant experience?” “What does this statement imply about the importance of an ‘urban village’ to the new immigrant?”
   3. Ask students: “To what extent is the increasing number of immigrants in the region a sign of a healthy economy?” “What do you think could make the Pittsburgh region more attractive to global businesses and immigration?”
8. Culminating Activity
   1. Divide the class into small groups. Direct each group to create an ad campaign (computer based, television, magazine, radio, poster, etc. depending on resources available.) that could be circulated across the globe highlighting the qualities of Southwestern Pennsylvania that might attract global businesses and/or immigrants to this area. (You might wish to make this a joint project with the art and/or computer classes in your school.)

Pittsburgh, Immigration, and the Global Economy

The U.S. is Increasingly a Trading Nation.	In 1995, $4 trillion of global economy was open to global competition. In 2000, $21 trillion was open to global competition. In 1950, US exports + imports = 5% GDP. In 2000, US exports + imports = 25% GDP
Economic Growth and Exports (1993–1999)
Global Population Growth	Within the next generation, it is estimated that global population will increase by 50%, from 6 billion people to 9 billion people by 2020. 90% of this growth is occurring in developing countries. In most of those countries, over 50% of the population is under the age of 25.
Population Growth (%) 1900–2000	Pittsburgh was last among 280 MSA’s (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) in population growth, 1990–2000.
Immigration Patterns
	U. S. immigration has tripled since 1970, from 9.6 million in 1970 to 28.4 million in 2000. Immigration as a percentage of population has doubled in that time period. Nationwide, immigrants Account for 66% of US population increase since 1990 and account for virtually the whole increase in public school enrollments.
Why are they coming?	Seeking prosperity in a changing marketplace. US over 25% of global economy, <5% population $8 billion trade surplus in education Political motivations. Escaping war, persecution, and tyranny. 90% of casualties of war in 1990s were civilian
Where They Are Coming From
Why are they coming?	Pittsburgh has entered the new century as one of the least ethnically and racially diverse metropolitan areas in the country. A study by the Urban Institute estimated about 2 percent of metropolitan Pittsburgh's population is foreign-born, compared with 10 percent for the nation as a whole. Census data and immigration estimates analyzed separately by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University place Pittsburgh at or near the bottom of rankings among large metropolitan areas for both the amount of annual immigration to the area and the percentage of foreign-born workers in its labor force. While the region's top universities, medical centers and software firms have attracted their share of physicians, engineers and other well-educated professionals from India, China, South America and elsewhere in recent years, there's no across-the-board growth in Asians, Hispanics and other foreigners such as other cities have experienced. Up to now, local immigration has tended to skim the cream of other nations, attracting well-educated professionals who blend in among the middle-class and affluent populations of city neighborhoods and suburbs. The local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is preparing a report that will note that the average Hispanic household in Allegheny County had income measuring 89 percent of the income of non-Hispanic white households in 1990, while Hispanics nationally have incomes worth just 61 percent of those of white households. The U.S. Hispanic population grew by 58 percent from 1990 to 2000, but by just 28 percent within Allegheny County, according to census data released earlier this year. The population of Asian background grew faster locally, but is still less than half the percentage of Asians nationally. According to Jeff Passel, a demographer for the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, "Right now, most [U.S.] immigrants are coming from Latin America, and the second biggest source of immigrants is Asia. Pittsburgh doesn't have a large number of either one of those. It doesn't have the kind of settled, recently arrived immigrant community to help attract others." According to Shashi Tripathi, the New York-based consul general of India, "The image of Pittsburgh as a steel city still persists," Tripathi said. "I think Pittsburgh has a lot going for it–it's green, it's lovely–but I think you need to send the message across that this city and state need people. I don't think that message has yet gotten out." High-growth areas such as Nashville, TN, and Charlotte, NC, have been attracting large numbers of Hispanics and other immigrants into jobs in the construction, hospitality and food-processing industries. While Pittsburgh's general labor needs are not as wide, economic analysts say there would still be plenty of opportunities for machinists, welders and other tradesmen if they could be persuaded to come here.
Sources	The World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh “Pittsburgh region struggles to refill melting pot,” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/14/01.