NORTH AMERICA

Northern America is used to refer to the northern countries and territories of North America: Canada, the United States, Greenland, Bermuda, and St. Pierre and Miquelon
The prevalent languages in North America are English, Spanish and French. Socially and culturally, North America presents a well-defined entity. Canada and the United States have a similar culture and similar traditions as a result of both countries being former British colonies. A common cultural and economic market has developed between the two nations because of the strong economic and historical ties.

The salad bowl concept suggests that the integration of the many different cultures of United States residents combine like a salad, as opposed to the more prolific notion of a cultural melting pot. In Canada this concept is more commonly known as the cultural mosaic. The melting pot on the other hand is an analogy for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures, races and religions) are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society. The term, which originates from the United States, is often used to describe societies experiencing large scale immigration from many different countries.

Even though in Canada there is a cultural protectionism, in general cultural diversity is well accepted.

For us, as latin americans, this region is a total different world, in terms of culture, economic development and even language, but we must understand that we are all together a single continent that should work toward some same objectives helping those with less resources and possibilities to achieve finally a sustainable regional development.

¿How did the financial crisis start?

"August 2007, when the gathering collapse of the U.S. housing market first made itself felt in financial markets in general. The Fed responded both by making sure banks had the cash they needed and by pumping up the overall money supply. These measures worked, in that they kept the economy going, albeit fitfully. But they didn't fix the underlying problem.

When the problem occurs on a mass scale, though, the case-by-case approach doesn't work so well. The Fed, Treasury, and FDIC have rescued some ailing financial institutions and let others die--Lehman Brothers being the most famous. European countries facing similar issues have also failed to stick to any clear rulebook. As a result, the providers of the credit that financial institutions need to keep going have turned ever more skittish. That's why banks are now so loath to lend to each other and increasingly loath to lend to anybody else"



We Can Beat This
JUSTIN FOX. Fortune. New York: Oct 27, 2008. Vol. 158, Iss. 8; pg. 96