Global networks and flows

A firm **investing directly in operations in another country** — building a factory or buying a local company.

Money that **migrant workers send home** to their families across borders; for some states it exceeds aid and FDI.

A **transnational corporation** — a firm that owns or controls operations in **more than one country**.

The **linked network of suppliers, factories and distributors** that turns raw materials into a finished product, often across many countries.

A **supply chain** (parts and products), flows of **money in (FDI) and profit out**, and the **diffusion of branded ideas/culture**.

**Adapting a global product** to local tastes and culture so it sells better in different markets.

**FDI**, **aid**, **loans/lending**, and **remittances** — capital moving across borders.

Core-periphery = wealthy country invests in a poorer one; **South-South** = one developing country lends to another (e.g. Belt-and-Road).

**ESG self-auditing**, **sector responsibility agreements**, **net-zero** pledges, and **circular-economy** adoption.

**Open markets** (cut tariffs), pass **investment laws**/tax breaks, set up **export-processing zones**, and **join a trading bloc**.

Through **tariffs, sanctions and capital controls**, tight ownership laws, or **leaving a trading bloc**.

Openings: **new markets, glocalisation, low-cost zones, blocs**. Obstacles: **protectionism, anti-globalisation, supply-chain/tech risk**.

**Information and communications technology** — the hardware, networks and software that move information (internet, phones, satellites, data centres).

As ICT improves, the **friction of distance shrinks**, so distant places feel closer in time and cost even though real distance is unchanged.

The **movement of digital information** (messages, money, media, files) across networks between places.

The **uneven access to ICT** between rich and poor countries, and between people within them — some are far better connected than others.

Remote **data centres** that store and process information over the internet, so a file or service can be reached from anywhere.

**Data and information**, **finance** and **communication** — they have little physical form, so they cross borders as data in seconds.

**Energy, food and raw materials** — oil, grain and iron ore must be piped, shipped or trucked; they cannot be digitised.

Digital networks usually **coordinate** physical flows (plan, price and track shipments) rather than replacing them.

**Trafficking** of people, **counterfeit** goods, **narcotics** and **hidden (laundered) money**.

The flows are **deliberately hidden**, counting methods differ and seizures capture only a fraction — so any figure is a rough estimate.

Illicit flows shape real places (crime, exploitation, lost revenue), so governments need **rough estimates** to govern them — what is unmeasured goes ungoverned.

**FOR** the claim, then **AGAINST** the claim, then a **JUDGEMENT** that answers how far the claim holds — never a fence-sit.