A striking feature of financial service activities during the past few decades is that the financial transactions essential to the operation of the 'real' economy has become increasingly dwarfed by speculative activity. Peter Dicken More Quotes by Peter Dicken More Quotes From Peter Dicken More broadly, strategic alliances are more difficult to manage and coordinate than single ventures; the potential for misunderstanding and disagreement, particularly between partners from different cultures, is great. Certainly many such alliances are short lived. Peter Dicken alliancesventuredifferent One of the most striking developments has been the rise, fall and rise again of the semiconductor industry of the United States, which is, once again, the dominant player in the most advanced semiconductor product-markets. Peter Dicken united-statesplayerfall Geographically, the global economy is now multi-polar , as new centres of production have emerged in parts of what had been, historically, the periphery of the world economy. The world is now more accurately described as a 'mosaic of unevenness in a continual state of flux'. Peter Dicken mosaicseconomyworld One of the most striking trends, since at least the 1960's, has been for employment in services to grow far more rapidly than employment in manufacturing. It is this trend that has led to the view that developed economies have become de-industrialized and that they are now effectively service economies. Peter Dicken employmenttrendsviews The primary driver of final consumer demand is, of course, the level of disposable income. Peter Dicken incomefinalslevels In the United Kingdom, for example, the sheer overwhelming dominance of London makes it extremely for provincial cities to develop more than a very restricted financial function. London, in that sense, is akin to the notorious upas tree, a fabulous Javanese tree so poisonous that it destroys all life for many miles around itself. Peter Dicken citieskingdomstree Without the parallel development of systems of monetary - and credit-based exchange - there could have been no development of economies beyond the most primitive organizational forms and the most geographically restricted sales. Peter Dicken economycreditdevelopment Reality is far more complex and messy than many of the grander themes and explanations would have us believe. Peter Dicken themebelievereality It is indeed paradoxical that an industry which epitomizes all that is new and up-to-date at the same time harbours some of the oldest and least desirable attributes of work in manufacturing industry. Peter Dicken paradoxicalharbourattributes Transnational corporate networks, and their resulting spatial patterns, are always in a continuous state of flux. At any one time, some parts may be growing rapidly, others may be stagnating, others may be in steep decline. Peter Dicken patternsgrowingmay the internationalization of economic activity and its major vehicle, the TNC, can be regarded simply as being part of the normal expansive process of capitalist development. Peter Dicken economicnormaldevelopment Innovation - the heart of technological change - is fundamentally a learning process. Peter Dicken technological-changeinnovationheart In fact, technology in, and of, itself does not cause particular kinds of change. It is, essentially, an enabling or facilitating agent. It makes possible new structures, new organizational and geographical arrangements of economic activities, new products and new processes, while not making particular, outcomes inevitable. Peter Dicken agentsenablingtechnology Every production network has spatiality - the particular geographical configuration and extent of its component elements and the links between them. Peter Dicken elementsparticularlinks It remains to be seen, for example whether China can continue to develop as a market economy while still retaining an authoritarian communist political system. Peter Dicken communistpoliticalexample
