The following resources can be used to start students thinking about the world they live in, and the economy they will have to find work in.

Where are some of the most popular consumer goods now made?
The Wall Street Journal's Jason Dean reports from Shenzhen, China, where Hon Hai, one of the world's biggest producers of goods for the big name brands like Apple and Sony, have one of the world's biggest factories.

What do leading academics think now about manufacturing?
In this summing-up article after a ground-breaking series at the influential Harvard Business Review, Professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih argue for a return to manufacturing as the base of a balanced economy that provides more jobs, and the need for trade that plays by the same rules.

How big a mistake do some people think outsourcing was?
Professor Robert Hayes of Harvard Business School likens industry's policy of outsourcing to the sub-prime mortgage disaster in this recent article.

How much debt does a country like the US now have, and how serious a problem is it?
There's a visual display of all the numbers at usdebtclock.org. The thought-provoking documentary IOUSA is an investigation of what those numbers mean for the future, at iousathemovie.org.

Were any problems with GATT, which brought in modern globalization from 1995, foreseen at the time?
Multi-billionaire James Goldsmith gave his opinion in an interview on Bloomberg in 1994. The 54 minute video is a great resource to use with students, who can discuss if his predictions came true or not.

How much pollution does the global shipping industry produce?
All those consumer goods take a lot of moving around the world. But according to recent research, one giant container ship can create as much sulfur pollution as 50 million cars put together. Just 16 of them out-pollute every car in the world. This is a great resource to get students thinking about the environmental costs of globalization, with the same ships emitting more CO2 than a coal-fired power station- each.

Is there a list of topics for discussion on all these themes?
We put together a Top Ten list of topics that students could research and discuss in class in another recent Blog. There are more links to interesting material for them in the madeinnations Resources section.

Are there other resources to interest students in making things?
The manufacturingiscool website is very well put together and has lots of insights into careers in manufacturing. The Shop Rats organisation encourages students to get involved with building things and learning skills, and has lots of resources too on its site. A recent Wall Street Journal article on the revival of 'tinkering,' of experimenting, innovating and building things that work, also mentions lots of new projects to get students back into a 'hands-on' way of learning.