Development Economics

University Degree Social studies

Development

Economics

Module Code - AFEEC2013

Module Leader - Cliff Baker

Carlos Acle Cervera

Erasmus Student

“ To the dismay of the purist, but not to the development practitioner, it is difficult to give one precise meaning to the term economic development” G.M. Meier

Though the progresses realized on the planet during the last half century are definitely undeniable, the enormous gap between the rich countries (or developed) and the poor countries (or underdeveloped) continues to be a player and one of the main characteristics of the world’s economy. A recent report by the United Nations summarize the current difficulties of the economic world: there are approximately 800 million persons who continue to exist without the proper alimentation and around 34.000 children die annually from famine and preventable illnesses. Approximately seventeen million individuals die this year alone from infectious and parasitic illnesses such as the diarrhoea, malaria and tuberculosis - illnesses that have already disappeared in rich countries; the fourth part of the world’s population, that is approximately 1.300 million individuals continue to live in absolute poverty, without covering the basic needs such as drinkable water, shelter and health care; there are 35 millions of displeased or sheltered; eighty percent of the world’s AIDS community lives in Third World countries ; the environmental situation is catastrophic in many regions of the planet which includes desertification concerns zones in where 850 million individuals live and every second human deforestation covers an extension equivalent to the surface of football field . The tough reality of underdevelopment is however way more complex than the frightening numbers these documents indicate. . It is well known that more than three fourths of the world’s population live in third World countries and it reaches an staggering 85% if one were to include the nations from the ex soviet block and central and eastern Europe.

This information might serve us to initiate us in the complex topic of underdevelopment and to those features that will try to explain it works. It is important to mention that words as broad as development or underdevelopment need to be measured and defined on a way that they help us out to demonstrate the real differences between rich and poor countries. It is difficult to trim down the current situation of the world to simple numbers, however, measurements such as income per capita or the Human Development Index can help us draw a broad picture of the situation

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Income per capita comes from dividing national income by the entire population. This number would only reflect reality if the revenue were distributed equally between the entire population, but it is never like that and even less on underdeveloped countries. Thus, since the vast majority is the one that has income lower than the average statistics, the result is that this majority lives worse than what such an average reflects.

In addition to this only economic indicator and unable to there offer us a more true image of the reality the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) proposes not only one indicator, but a set of them that try to quantify such a level of development understood as the enlargement of the options which the human being has. The Human Development Index will report the following indicators: life expectancy, revenue per capita exact, valuation of adults' literacy and valuation of registration in the different academic levels.

It is evident that the indicators that integrate the Human Development Index still need to be re-defined and to these some others have to be added. However the HDI represents the answer to a simplistic vision of measuring the levels of development according to economic indicators, which are also used by institutions that guide themselves by a classic conception of the Development such as World Bank; FMI... The values of the IDH are understood in a scale between 0 and 1, and they are obtained as simple average of three indicators.

These two measurements serve as complement to one another whereas the PCI gives us a more general vision of the economic growth. On the other hand HDI includes a wide range of dimensions about the poverty, the inequality, the rights and the freedoms of the nations.

From my point of view, the development is not a simple increase of the productivity as consequence of technical and economic progress, but as a result of a favourable transformation among the social and political dimensions of a given country. The real development, the human development, will not be possible without the improvement of the social inequalities; the disappearance of the abuses and interests of the local oligarchies, that allow the abuses of the capitalist companies in their territories; the consolidation of the Democracy and the extension of the educational possibilities to the whole population. Therefore the development has to be understood as quality of life or as an enlargement of opportunities for the people within society itself. It is not a mere quantitative issue but a qualitative one. In fact, goal must remain in finding a balance, between quality and quantity, which necessarily does not have to be the one that the development countries show us. It is more than possibly that in many occasions these standards, set by developed nations, offer more situations of stress, alienation and absurd dependencies than other cultures that could be situated in a different stage of economic development where the importance of material things, competitiveness, productive efficacy or individualism are not the dominant values.

Now I will do a brief summary of which are the principal characteristics that present the developing nations and the problems that they must overcome in order to succeed.

Regarding the demographic aspect, these countries have high rates of population growth in spite of food shortage and high existing mortality. This happens as consequence of the lack of information these people have regarding contraceptive methods and sometimes they also lack the economic means to acquire them even though they may have heard about their existence.

Concerning the economic aspect, the developing countries present a low level of industrialization due to the fact that a majority of the population that represent the active workforce in these countries devote themselves to the primary sector (agriculture, fishing and cattle) (of 70 to 90 %). The high rate of unemployment and infant exploitation are also a major issue in these cases.

These countries present a situation of economic dependency and excessive reliance on exportation of natural resources like minerals and the ones that have to do with agricultural industry. The level of production is scarce and the income per capita is very lower than that of the developed countries.

These characteristics are simultaneously causes and effects. R. Nurske named this phenomenon vicious circle of the poverty. According to him the investments that would provide high valuations of growth and development do not take place due to the low level of internal saving, which, at the same time, is not possible given the low index of development and revenue.

In these societies exist a lot of inequalities. A minority of the population lives in the abundance, whereas the immense majority remains in the most absolute misery. In these societies, the middle class is practically non-existent.

There is a great percentage of illiteracy among these populations due to the fact that their economies are so precarious that they do not have sufficient money to acquire school material, to pay a salary to the professorship, and to support the facilities of the educational centres. Often, the teachers are missionaries sent by NGO.

Regarding the political aspect, in many of these countries exist dictatorships. These are regimes in which neither the fundamental freedoms nor the human rights are present at all.

During the 60s and 70s, guerrillas and other activist groups were formed in some countries with the intention to put and end to political dictatorial systems and situations of social and economic inequality by the force.

What does it need to be changed change in today’s world situation in order for these countries to acquire a decent level of economic developing and for them to be able to get out of the state of poverty in which they are immerse? It is difficult to answer to this question although I will try to answer it my best.

Firstly a change will be necessary in the international relations, a better distribution of the resources and the application of an ethics of the commerce and of the production.

The money destined for the international cooperation must increase, but also there have to be constructed structures of cooperation based on the needs of the countries recipients and directed to strengthening his production and democratic system. To cooperate does not want to say to calm the bad conscience of the industrialized world; it means to support strategies of growth of the countries that never have grown.

The struggle against the poverty is also the struggle for the development. In addition to the transferences of money, it is necessary that the projects of development in these countries serve to strengthen their popular organizations, and to create the political, economic, social and cultural rights of the citizens and not only the immediate problems. If we don’t do this the weak countries will always be victims of the changes of the world markets and of the financial speculation.

This cooperation does not want to say only to help to the countries of the South. Also it is necessary to press the governments of the North to change the laws and procedure that impede the exports of the countries of the South and to finish with the injustice of the commercial unfavourable exchanges for the developing countries, in order that they destine a percentage of this wealth to the progress of the regions of the South and in order that it condones them the foreign debt that don’t let develop themselves. It is to monitor that the financial capital does not fall down in the speculation, but it is invested in productive and sustainable economies.

In addition to the economic growth, to reduce the poverty an institutional and social change is necessary. First the economic opportunities of the disadvantaged ones must be increased, facilitating to them the access to housing and education. Also is necessary to eliminate the discriminations for sex, race, ethnic group or social condition. Finally, it is necessary to reduce the vulnerability of the poorest before the illness, the economic crises, the unemployment, the natural disasters or the violence.