Greenland Global Technology, Inc.? The University of Antarctica?

A little while before departing the US, I sent friends and family an email with statistic on the economic situation of Latin America. Here it is again for those who missed out:

There are 125 million people in Latin America living on less than $2 a day. 125 million! That amounts to almost half the population of the United States! $2 a day! I´m having trouble enough getting by on my set goal of $10 a day!

Basically, we are talking about one very poor region of the world. But let´s expand our scope a bit and look at the global economic picture. Here´s one more stat for you to chew on:

Of the 30 top economies of the world (as measured by GDP per capita for countries with more than a million people), only two lie within the region of the globe known as “the Tropics” (the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn – approximately 23.5 degrees north and south lattitude respectively). The 28 others as well as almost all of the next 20 countries on the list reside outside the tropical latitudes. Furthermore, the two exceptions – Singapore and the special administrative region of Hong Kong are really exceptions that prove the rule more than defy it, as I will explain soon.

Okay, so why mention all this in a blog about Latin America. Well, for those who are not too geographically-inclined, bust out a map and you will find that almost all of Latin America lies within the tropics! Likewise, the other regions of the world with a plethora of poverty – Africa and Southeast Asia – also primarily fall within the tropical zones.

What I am getting at is that one very important dimension of economics that I feel is often overlooked is the role that environmental and geographical factors play in the development (or lack thereof) of economies around the globe.

Europe, North America, East Asia, and Australia* have all flourished in lands for the most part blessed with moderate climates, rich soil, long growing seasons, and a solid repository of resources. Conversely, countries in the tropics suffer frequently from floods, droughts, hurricanes, monsoons, and, above all, insufferable, unrelenting, oppressive HEAT!

My inspiration for this blog entry came while I was sweating through long, hot days in the Coahuila desert. Under such conditions, you don´t want to work, you don´t even want to move. It´s too hot to even think. You just want to sit in the shade and doing absolutely nothing.

How could any economy possibly flourish under such stifling conditions?** As I allude to in my title, the same can be said of life on the other extreme of the climate spectrum. It´s damn near impossible to imagine innovative businesses, top-tier universities, or 5-star tourist attractions springing up in areas within the frigid arctic realms.

Of course, lattitudinal positioning is not the be all and end all of environmental/climate fortune-telling. It is merely a useful jumping off point. Many other factors such as the presence of navigable rivers, coastal ports, and proximity to other potential markets also must be considered. That is why the superbly-positioned coastal havens of Hong Kong and Singapore are exceptions from my earlier stat that prove the rule.

In political science terms, the concept I am describing is known as “Environmental Determinism” (a term I find a bit too fatalistic, but whatcha gonna do?). Unfortunately, Environmental Determinism is often frowned upon in academia. Most scholars tend to focus more on human-controlled forces like history, culture, religion, governmental intervention, racism, colonialism, and imperialism to assess and analyze economic development.

I am certainly not denying the importance of these factors. However, I am positing that just as topography outweighs all other forces in determining the path of a river, environmental and geographic realities outweigh all others in determining the path of economic development.

Now, I could stop here and you might assume that the tacit conclusion of my theory is that we are more or less helpless recipients of environmental fate and thus we should passively accept whatever hand – or, more acurrately, whatever land – we`re dealt. Unfortunately, the world is not quite so simple.

We humans are and have always been an inextricable part of the environment around us and what we do affects our environment just as invariably as our environment affects us. Furthermore, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent technological age, we have become an ever-increasingly more powerful force in turning the tide (figuratively and sometimes literally) on Mother Nature. To continue the metaphor from before, we know truly do have the ability to overcome topography and direct rivers where we so desire. Of course, we have not always used our new powers responsibly or with great foresight as we are painfully realizing through the emergence global warming. Neverthless, I see no reason why the same human race which invented the car, the airplane, and the spacerocket cannot figure out ways and means to produce ecological versions of these and all other forms of technology that we have so benefited the rise of our civilization.

Thus, rather than employing my theory to justify an attitude of fatalistic withdrawal, I conversely hope it can be seen as a (nonviolent) call to arms or sort, a challenge to humankind.

We can and must tackle the poverty of the world. (It would be too much for me to claim it is a moral obligation for all, but that is how I personally feel and I hope many others feel more or less the same.) Nevertheless, in so doing, we surely must not overlook nor turn a blind eye to the role of environmental forces in facilitating the creation of this poverty in the first place. Furthermore, it is critical that we always strongly consider environmental factors when innovating and implementing prescriptions for this monumental and heartbreaking problem which damns millions of our fellow human being to lives of extreme misery. To do otherwise would be utterly irresponsible.

…But that is just one mohawked kid´s opinion…

If I´m on the wrong track, holler back and let me know why. Till then, I´m gonna go aid the economy of this tropical region by downing a couple piña coladas. ¡Hasta luego from Aguascalientes!

* A quick survey of the areas within Africa and Latin America with stronger economies than their counterparts adds further evidence to this observation. North African countries like Morocco and Egypt as well as South Africa which lie outside the tropics have much stronger economies than the African countries sandwiched between. Likewise, Mexico which is half in and half out of the tropics and the southernmost Latin American countries like Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina have traditionally possessed much healthier economies than the countries in between.

** Having grown up under the influence of Houston´s endless summers, I tend to attribute the mass dissemination of air-conditioning units as at least as important as oil to the boom of the economy of my birthcity. If it weren´t for AC and soccer practices, I may have never left the house.