Current Leaders

President: Michael D Higgins

Michael D Higgins, a veteran left-wing politician, poet & human rights activist was elected president in October 2011 & inaugurated in November. He is a former Galway university lecturer & published poet who has dedicated his four-decade political career to championing Irish culture & left-wing causes worldwide. He is a fluent Irish speaker.

The Irish president wields little power beyond the ability to refer potentially unconstitutional legislation to the Supreme Court, but has an important symbolic role in representing Ireland at the national & international level.

Prime Minister: Enda Kenny

Enda Kenny heads a coalition which in the early elections of February 2011 ousted the party that had dominated Irish politics for 80 years.

The February 2011 general election saw a sharp reversal of fortune for both major parties and brought a considerable change to Ireland’s political landscape. Fianna Fail suffered its worst defeat in party’s history. The results reflected voter fury at the Fianna Fail party, which was blamed for leading Ireland to the brink of bankruptcy. Fianna Fail’s collapse came three months after it agreed an EU-IMF bailout worth 85 billion euro, which many Irish see as a humiliation.

By contrast, Fine Gael and Labour both secured their best-ever results in a general election: Mr Kenny’s centre-right Fine Gael won 76 seats & Labour 37 in the 166-member parliament.

They entered into a coalition gov-t. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore became Deputy PM and Foreign minister.

Ireland’s budget deficit reached an alarming 32% of gross domestic product after a state bailout of the country’s banks, which had lent recklessly & fuelled an unsustainable property boom. When Fine Gael & Labour agreed to work as coalition partners, they issued a joint document saying voters had chosen parties “to begin mending the pieces of a fractured society, a broken economy”.

Mr Kenny said he would make renegotiating the terms of the economic bailout by the EU & the IMF his first priority.

The June 2004 local & European Parliament elections featured a referendum on citizenship. Until that time, Ireland had granted citizenship on the basis of birth on Irish soil. Concerns about security & social welfare abuse prompted the gov-t to seek to bring citizenship laws in line with the more restrictive policies prevalent in the rest of Europe, & the 2004 referendum measure passed by a wide majority. Now, persons with non-Irish parents can acquire Irish citizenship at birth on Irish soil only if at least one parent has been resident in Ireland for 3 yy. preceding the birth.

14. Give a general outline of the US economy, its place in the global economy. Unemployment statistics. The main sectors of the US economy & their role in the country’s dev-t.

The economy of the United States is the world's largest single national economy. The United States' nominal GDP was estimated to be $16.6 trillion in 2013 approximately a quarter of nominal global GDP. 1st (nominal). It has the world's sixth-highest per capita GDP (PPP).

The United States has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment.

Its five largest trading partners are Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany. Export goods: Capital goods; consumer goods; automotive vehicles and components; food and beverages; fuel oil and petroleum products; aircraft and components.

Import goods: Consumer goods; capital goods (except computing); crude oil (неочищенная нефть), automotive vehicles and components; computers and accessories; food and beverages.

The US has abundant natural resources – it is the world's third-largest producer of oil and second-largest producer of natural gas. It is the second-largest trading nation in the world behind China. The country is one of the world's largest and most influential financial markets. About 60% of the global currency reserves have been invested in the US dollar, while 24% have been invested in the euro. The New York Stock Exchange is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization. Consumer spending comprises 71% of the US economy in 2013. The labor market has attracted immigrants from all over the world.

The US economy is currently embroiled in the economic downturn which followed the financial crisis of 2007–08, with output still below potential and unemployment still above historic trends.

As of November 2013, the unemployment rate was 7.0% (11.26 million people).

Extreme poverty in the United States, meaning households living on less than $2 per day before government benefits, doubled from 1996 levels to 1.5 million households in 2011, including children. Budget deficit: 680 bln $ (2013).

The wealthiest 10% of the population possess 80% of all financial assets.

GDP by sector: agriculture: 1.2%, industry: 19%, services: 80% (2011 est.)

United States employment as estimated in 2012, is divided into 79.7% in the service sector, 19.2% in the industry sector and 1.1% in the agriculture sector

Services: retail trade, accommodation & food services, education & health, finance & insurance, social assistance, management, arts & entertainment, real estate & rental services, etc.

Although most of the U.S. economy is composed of services, the United States is the world's largest manufacturer. Its manufacturing output is greater than of Germany, France, India, and Brazil combined. Main industries include petroleum, steel, automobiles, construction machinery, aerospace, agricultural machinery, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, and mining.

The US leads the world in airplane manufacturing. American companies such as Boeing, Cessna, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics produce a vast majority of the world's civilian and military aircraft in factories stretching across the United States.

The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years. The U.S. produces approximately 18% of the world's manufacturing output, a number that has declined as other nations developed competitive manufacturing industries.

Although agriculture comprises less than two percent of the economy, the United States is a net exporter of food. With vast tracts of temperate arable land, technologically advanced agribusiness, and agricultural subsidies, the United States controls almost half of world grain exports. Products include wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest products; fish.

15. Expand on the economic & social dev-t of the American South & the Pacific States Region. Outline the major cities of the regions.

The USA’s made up of 5 major regions. The basic principles to divide are: geography, climate, economy, traditions & history.

The US can be divided into the following economic regions:

- the Northeast (the New England States & the Middle Atlantic States)

- the South (the Southeast & the Southwest States)

- the Middle Western Region

- the Rocky Mountain Region

- the Pacific States Region (including Alaska & Hawaii)