In the news (6)

Global systems and TNCs

[My previous post, on Oxbridge interviews, had a much larger readership than I expected, at over 3.5k, and attracted several new subscribers. Welcome – where have you been? There is a substantial archive you can explore, most easily on the Substack app. I shall provide a post that gives you the links to this year’s archive in a pre-Christmas present.

If you are studying climate change, can I advise you also subscribe to Hannah Ritchie’s Substack ‘Sustainability by numbers’ and her podcast ‘Solving for climate’? And studying Changing Places? – then follow Will Fry’s Substack of the same title.

Here are three short posts related to global systems and TNCs. They might be useful up-to-date examples you can use in your exams - both mock and real. This ALWAYS impresses examiners.]

Angola – The Lobito Corridor
Recently, US President Biden went on his last international visit, as President, to a foreign country and his first visit to an African country, meeting Angolan President João Lourenço in the capital of Luanda. The trip marked the first visit by a US president to Sub-Saharan Africa since 2015.

The US aims to strengthen Angola's energy infrastructure, boost regional trade, and increase access to rare earth minerals required to produce electric vehicles by investing in the Lobito Corridor. This transcontinental railway project will connect Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Zambia. The railway corridor stretches 1300km, linking the DRC’s mineral-rich Katanga region, Zambia’s Copperbelt, and Angola’s oil fields.

The Lobito Atlantic railway

Irish politics and technology TNCs

Ireland recently had a general election, with an outcome of minimal change. The management of Ireland’s financial reserves was central in the campaign, with pledges to fix a housing crisis and infrastructure issues, proposals for sweeping tax cuts and even money for savings accounts for every newborn baby.

However, it is the source of that money - corporate tax receipts from American tech and pharmaceutical giants with a presence in Ireland - that was also at stake. (see map below)

American technology TNCs in Ireland

One risk is that the Irish tax boom is undercut by newly elected President Trump. His proposed plans to reduce US corporation tax to the levels in Ireland could affect these companies. Ireland is accused, by Trump, of creating a tax surplus at the USA’s expense.

The issue is also influenced by politics. Ireland formally recognised the State of Palestine in May 2024, angering Israel and creating for Trump a potential grievance with the country.

Obesity, TNCs and the economy of Denmark

The use of GLP-1 drugs is rapidly increasing as millions of people turn to them for help in battling obesity and cardiovascular diseases. These drugs work as appetite suppressants, helping patients regulate food intake by reducing feelings of hunger, and they are one of few medications able to reliably induce long-run weight loss and its downstream health benefits. Hence, prescriptions for Ozempic (a diabetes medication often sought for weight loss) and Wegovy (an obesity-treating drug) are both increasing. This is much to the advantage of the Danish drugs pharmaceutical TNC Novo Nordisk.

The GLP-1 boom has been such good news for Novo Nordisk that rising drug exports are currently driving the majority of Denmark’s GDP growth. Since 2021, Danish GDP has increased by 3.6% - it would have been 0% without the contribution of rapid increases in pharmaceutical manufacturing output. The boom has been so strong that it been largely responsible for Denmark becoming one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU. [See graph below]

Over the last few years, Denmark’s weight-loss drug boom has driven a massive increase in exports. That has been particularly the case for exports to the USA, which overtook Germany to become the largest foreign destination for Danish goods in 2023. Danish industrial production of pharmaceuticals has more than tripled since 2018, driving a roughly 50% increase in overall manufacturing production.