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Why is unemployment and underemployment a continuing scenario among nations irrespective of whether they are developed, developing, or underdeveloped? Why would the crafting of a development plan a requisite for a country to develop? On pages 11-14, you will see at least 30 questions that needed to be addressed. Why should a student of the course economic development look into the insights provided by these questions? What role does critical thinking play in our study of economic development?
11 (40 of 891) Find more at http://www.downloadslide.com CHAPTER 1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective 11 Why Study Development Economics? Some Critical Questions An introductory course in development economics should help students gain a better understanding of a number of critical questions about the economies of developing nations. The following is a sample list of 30 such questions, followed by the chapters (in parentheses) in which they are discussed. They illustrate the kinds of issues faced by almost every developing nation and, indeed, every development economist. 1. What is the real meaning of development? Do the Millennium Development Goals fit with these meanings? (Chapter 1) 2. What can be learned from the historical record of economic progress in the now developed world? Are the initial conditions similar or different for contemporary developing countries from what the developed coun- tries faced on the eve of their industrialization or in their earlier phases? (Chapter 2) 3. What are economic institutions, and how do they shape problems of under- development and prospects for successful development? (Chapter 2) 4. How can the extremes between rich and poor be so very great? Figure 1.1 illustrates this disparity. (Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5) 5. What are the sources of national and international economic growth? Who benefits from such growth and why? (Chapters 3 and 5) 6. Why do some countries make rapid progress toward development while many others remain poor? (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) 7. Which are the most influential theories of development, and are they com- patible? Is underdevelopment an internally (domestically) or externally (internationally) induced phenomenon? (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) 8. What constraints most hold back accelerated growth, depending on local conditions? (Chapter 4) 9. How can improvements in the role and status of women have an espe- cially beneficial impact on development prospects? (Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) 10. What are the causes of extreme poverty, and what policies have been most effective for improving the lives of the poorest of the poor? (Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11) 11. With world population superseding 7 billion people, on its way to a pro- jected 9 billion before mid-century, is rapid population growth threatening the economic progress of developing nations? Does having large families make economic sense in an environment of widespread poverty and financial insecurity? (Chapter 6) 12. Why is there so much unemployment and underemployment in the developing world, especially in the cities, and why do people continue to migrate to the cities from rural areas even when their chances of finding a conventional job are slim? (Chapter 7)Find more at http://www.downloadslide.com 12 PART ONE Principles and Concepts FIGURE 1.1 World Income Distribution Regional percentage of the population for each 20's of income Richest World income distributed by percentiles of the population, 2000 6 Richest Poorest High-income DECD Poorest Per capita (2) Eastern and central Europe income and CIS Q Latin America and the Caribbean East Asia and the Pacific South Asia [b) Sub-Saharan Africa Part (a) shows world income distribution by percentile. The huge share controlled by the top percentiles gives the graph its "champagne glass shape." Part (bj shows the regional shares of global income For example, a large majority of people in the top 20% of the global income distribution live in the rich countries. Most of those in the bottom 60%% live in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. OECD is the Organization for Economic Coopera- Hon and Development. CIS is the Commonwealth of Independent States. Source: From Howwa Development Report, 2005, p. 37. Reprinted with permission from the United Nations Development Programme. 13. Under what conditions can cities act as engines of economic transformation? (Chapter 7) 14. Wealthier societies are also healthier ones because they have more resources for improving nutrition and health care. But does better health also help spur successful development? (Chapter 8) 15. What is the impact of poor public health on the prospects for develop- ment, and what is needed to address these problems? (Chapter 8) 16. Do educational systems in developing countries really promote economic development, or are they simply a mechanism to enable certain select groups or classes of people to maintain positions of wealth, power, and influence? (Chapter 8)CHAPTER 1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective 13 17. As more than half the people in developing countries still reside in rural areas, how can agricultural and rural development best be promoted? Are higher agricultural prices sufficient to stimulate food production, or are rural insti- tutional changes and infrastructure (land redistribution, local government reform, roads, transport, education, credit, etc.) also needed? (Chapter 9) 18. What do we mean by "environmentally sustainable development"? Are there serious economic costs for pursuing sustainable development as opposed to simple output growth, and who bears the major responsibility for global environmental damage-the developed North or the developing South? (Chapter 10) 19. Are free markets and economic privatization the answer to development problems, or do governments in developing countries still have major roles to play in their economies? (Chapter 11) 20. Why do so many developing countries select such poor development policies, and what can be done to improve these choices? (Chapter 11) 21. Is expanded international trade always desirable from the point of view of the development of poor nations? Who gains from trade, and how are the advantages distributed among nations? (Chapter 12) 22. When and under what conditions, if any, should governments in develop- ing countries adopt a policy of foreign-exchange control, raise tariffs, or set quotas on the importation of certain "nonessential" goods in order to promote their own industrialization or to ameliorate chronic balance of payments problems? (Chapter 12) 23. What has been the impact of International Monetary Fund "stabilization programs" and World Bank "structural adjustment" lending on the balance of payments and growth prospects of heavily indebted less developed countries? (Chapters 12 and 13) 24. What is meant by globalization, and how is it affecting the developing Globalization The increas countries? (Chapters 12, 13, and 14) ing integration of national economics into expanding 25. Should exports of primary products such as agricultural commodities and international markets iron ore be promoted, or should all developing countries attempt to indus- trialize by developing their own manufacturing industries as rapidly as possible? (Chapter 13) 26. How did so many developing nations get into such serious foreign-debt problems, and what are the implications of debt problems for economic development? How do financial crises affect development? (Chapter 13) 27. What is the impact of foreign economic aid from rich countries? Should developing countries continue to seek such aid, and if so, under what con- ditions and for what purposes? Should developed countries continue to offer such aid, and if so, under what conditions and for what purposes? (Chapter 14) 28. Should multinational corporations be encouraged to invest in the economies of poor nations, and if so, under what conditions? How have the emergence14 PART ONE Principles and Concepts of the "global factory" and the globalization of trade and finance influenced international economic relations? (Chapter 14) 29. What is the role of financial and fiscal policy in promoting development? (Chapter 15) 30. What is microfinance, and what are its potential and limitations for reduc- ing poverty and spurring grassroots development? (Chapter 15)
