Introducing Economic Development: a Global Perspective

The term absolute poverty is a situation of being unable to meet the minimum levels of income, food, clothing, healthcare, shelter, and other essential. On the other hand, the wealth family is the situation which has opportunity and necessary of education or training, employment (shelter, cloth, fee, health) and also save money for later life; however, they commonly meet the mental strain and physical pressures of trying to provide the family’s need.

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Because of the above condition, development has to be done to improve the quality of all human lives and capabilities by raising people’s levels of living, self esteem and freedom. Thus, soon we will discover the process of developing countries cannot be analyzed realistically without also considering the role of economically developed nations in directly or Indirectly promoting the development. The technology of modern transportation and communications In the modern world will Increase the interdependency of each people around the world.

Local situation will give impact to global condition, it means that what happen in one country will also influence other country that probably located in other continent. It is within this context of a common future for all mankind in the rapidly shrinking world of the 21st century that commerce our study of economic development. 2. Economic and Development Studies the study of economic development Is one of the newest, most excellent and most Hellenizing branches of the broader disciplines of economics and political economy.

Although development economics often draws relevant principles and concept, the economic development is a field of study that is rapidly evolving its own distinctive analytical and methodological identity. The nature of development economics Traditional economic Is concerned primarily with the efficient, least-cost allocation of scare productive resources and with the optimal growth of these resources over time so as to produce an ever expanding range of goods and services.

Political economy is n attempt to emerge economic analysis with practical politics – to view economic activity in its political context; thus, this study concern with the relationship between politics and economics with a special emphasis on the role of power in economic decision making Development economics is concerned with the efficient allocation of existing scare productive resources and Its sustainability; further, It Is also deal with necessary to bring rapid and large-scale improvements in level of living for peoples.

The ultimate purpose of development economics is: to help us understand evolving economies in order to help improve the material lives of the majority of the global population. It is also help to think systematically about economic problems and issues and formulate Judgments and conclusions on the basis of relevant analytical principles reliable statistical information. The important role of values in development economics Economics is a social science which is concerned with humans being and the social system by which they organize their activities to satisfy basic material needs and immaterial wants.

Economics could not be value free in the same sense as physics or chemistry. Thus the validity of economy analysis and the correctness of economic prescriptions should always be evaluated in light of the underlying assumptions or value premises. Once these subjective values have been agreed on by a nation or national decision makers, specific goals and corresponding public policies based on “objective” theoretical and quantitative analyses can be pursued.

On the one hand, where serious value conflicts and disagreement exit among decision maker, the possibility of consensus about desirable goods and appropriate policies is considerably diminished. Economies as social system: the need to go beyond simple economics Economics and economic system must be analyzed within the context of the overall social system of a country and global context as well.

The social system means interdependent relationships between economic and uneconomic factors. Social system I Global context I Attitudes toward life, work and authority I Organization and rules of conduct of the global economy (formulated, control, and beneficiary) I Public and private bureaucratic I Spread of market economies I Legal I Rapid globalization of trade I Administrative structure I Finance I Patterns of kinship and religion I Corporate boundaries I

Cultural traditions I Technology I System of land tenure I Intellectual property I The authority and integrity of governmental agencies I Labor migration I Degree of popular participation I Flexibility or rigidity of economic and social classes I I The non economic variables often play a critical role in the success or failure of the development effort. However, often these variables were excluded from the analysis and make failure of development policies.

In this development economics will use the crucial roles of values, attitudes and institutions for the development process. 3. What Do We Meant by Development? Traditional economic measures In strictly economic terms, development has traditionally meant achieving sustained rates of growth of income per capita to enable a nation to expand its output at a rate faster than the growth rate of its population.

Levels and rates of growth of “real” per capita gross national income (IN) (monetary growth of IN per capita minus the rate population-?how much of real goods and services is available to the average citizen for consumption and investment. Development always seen as an economic phenomenon in which rapid gains in overall and per capita IN growth would either trickle down” to the masses in the form of Jobs and other economic opportunities or create the necessary conditions for the wider distribution of the economic and social benefits of growth.

Problems of poverty, discrimination, unemployment, and income distribution were of secondary importance to “getting the growth Job done. ” Indeed, the emphasis is often on increased output, measured by gross domestic product (GAP). The new economic view of development Development must therefore be conceived of as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions, as ell as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of poverty.

Development, in its essence, must represent the whole gamut of change by which an entire social system, tuned to the diverse basic needs and evolving aspirations of individuals and social groups within that system, moves away from a condition of life widely perceived as satisfactory toward a situation or condition of life regarded as materially and spiritually better. Mammary Ken’s “Capability’ Approach Mammary Seen, the 1998 Nobel laureate in economics, argues that the “capability to unction” is what really matters for status as a poor or nonporous person.

As Seen put it, “Economic growth cannot be sensibly treated as an end in itself. Development has to be more concerned with enhancing the lives we lead and the freedoms we enjoy. ” In effect, Seen argues that poverty cannot be properly measured by income or even by utility as conventionally understood; what matters fundamentally is not the things a person has or the feelings these provide but what a person is, or can be, and does, or can do. What matters for well-being is not Just the characteristics of modesties consumed, as in the utility approach, but what use the consumer can and does make of commodities.

Development and Happiness Clearly, happiness is part of human well-being, and greater happiness may in itself expand an individual’s capability to function. As Mammary Seen argued, “Utility in the sense of happiness may well be included in the list of some important functioning relevant to a person’s well-being. ” In recent years, economists have explored the empirical relationship across countries and over time between subjectively reported satisfaction and happiness and factors such as income. One of the findings is that he average level of happiness or satisfaction increases with a country’s average income.

Three core values of development The core values are sustenance, self-esteem, and freedom. They are represent common goals sought by all individuals and societies. 18 They relate to fundamental human needs that find their expression in almost all societies and cultures at all times. A) Sustenance The basic goods and services, such as food, clothing, and shelter, that are necessary to sustain an average human being at the bare minimum level of living. B) Self-esteem The feeling of worthiness that a society enjoys when such as respect, dignity, integrity, and self determination. ) Freedom A situation in which a society has at its disposal a variety of alternatives from which to satisfy its wants and individuals enjoy real choices according The Central Role of Women Development scholars generally view women as playing the central role in the development drama. Although they are tend to be poorer than man and more deprived in health and education and freedoms, women have primary responsible for child caring and the resources that they are able to bring to this task will determine whether the cycle of transmission of poverty from generation to enervation will be broken. Women also transmit values to the next generation.

To make the biggest impact on development, then, a society must empower and invest in its women. The Three Objectives of Development We may conclude that development is both a physical reality and a state of mind in which society has, through some combination of social, economic, and institutional processes, secured the means for obtaining a better life. Whatever the specific components of this better life, development in all societies must have at least the following three objectives: 1. To increase the availability and widen the distribution f basic life-sustaining goods such as food, shelter, health, and protection 2.

To raise levels of living, including, in addition to higher incomes, the provision of more jobs, better education, and greater attention to cultural and human values, all of which will serve not only to enhance material wellbeing but also to generate greater individual and national self-esteem 3. To expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals and nations by freeing them from servitude and dependence not only in relation to other people and nation-states but also to the forces of ignorance and human misery 4.

The Millennium Development Goals In September 2000, the 189 member countries of the United Nations at that time adopted eight Millennium Development Goals (Megs), committing themselves to making substantial progress toward the eradication of poverty and achieving other human development goals by 2015. The Meds are the strongest statement yet of the international commitment to ending global poverty. They acknowledge the multidimensional nature of development and poverty alleviation; an end to poverty requires more than Just increasing incomes of the poor.

The Meds have provided a unified focus in the development community unlike anything that preceded them. The eight goals are ambitious: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIVE/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. The goals are then assigned specific targets deemed achievable by 201 5 based on the pace of past international development achievements. The goals and targets are found in Table 1. 1