Joyce Kathleen B.

Vargas
BSA 1B

Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective

1. How the Other Half Live

Instruction: Prepare a collage of pictures depicting absolute poverty- lack and inability to meet
needs and a picture depicting development- improvement in the quality of life. From the
pictures you have generated, what could be possible voices emanating from these people? If
you were to make a difference in their lives, what measures would you execute to bring out the
needed change in both pictures depicted?

When I stare at the pictures on the left, it’s as if I could hear them begging for
help, expressing how life has been hard for them and how they have been waiting for a
miracle to happen. They are calling for actions to help them survive especially from the
government who promised them a better life. Hence, the government should start taking
responsibility to give these people better access to education, health, housing and food
security.
If I were to make an action, I would organize a fund-raising activity to provide
them financial assistance. I would coordinate with big charity foundations which aims to
help the marginalized communities. The foundation and I could also collaborate with the
government in creating projects that will give them job opportunities. In this way, there
would a bigger help extended to these families. This course of action would also help
the country to achieve stability and to progress even more.

2. Economics and Development Studies

In here we are being ushered to towards understanding the concepts of traditional

economics, political economy and development economics whereby we are being introduced to
a world of perfect markets and materialistic orientations toward economic decision making; the
merging of economic analysis and practical politics and the stages of transformation undergone
by countries in the areas of economy culture and politics to effect structural and institutional
change among societies and nations all together.

Question: Why is unemployment and underemployment a continuing scenario among nations

irrespective whether they are developed, developing or underdeveloped? Why would the
crafting of a development plan a requisite for a country to develop? On page 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?

Unemployment and underemployment are still rampant in all nations because of

the high standards set in the work environment. The workers who came from poor
families and did not have privilege of getting proper education have lesser job
opportunities. Moreover, because of the technological advances in the industries, the
man-labor works are now replaced by machines. This further increases the
unemployment and underemployment rates of a nation.

A plan is the main foundation in organizing effective actions to achieve one’s

goals. Thus, it is essential to craft a development plan because it helps to define the
objectives that a country wants to accomplish. It also asses the problems needed to be
addressed to achieve these goals. A development plan will facilitate a nation in making
decisions and executing actions towards development.

The insights which can be derived from the formulated questions will help
students studying Economic Development to have a deeper understanding of the
concept of development. They will discover the issues faced by nations in achieving
development, and how these issues are being addressed. This will be a great stepping
stone for their future studies related to this field.

Critical thinking is an important aspect when studying economic development

because the concepts introduced in this course are complex. Hence, systematic and
analytical approach are needed to understand it. The students also need to
comprehend and interpret the connections between these concepts, and draw their own
conclusions.
Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach

Sen argues that poverty cannot be properly measured by income or by utility as

conventionally understood but what a person is or can be and does or can do.  These
functioning according to her depends on the social conventions, position/role in the family,
presence or absence of festivities physical distance.

Question: How are these functioning of the individual conferred or measured or pursued given
his capability to function? The emphasis on health and education, social inclusion and
empowerment are crucial to a person’s well-being or quality of life.

As mentioned, a person’s functioning depends on his characteristics and abilities

to consume or use resources. Factors like personal features, health, education, and
level of utility shall always be considered in assessing a person’s well-being. The more
favorable the circumstances of an individual are, the better he can allocate his
resources. Moreover, he can optimize his capabilities for the betterment of his quality of
life. And this is why it is connected to economic development may allocation of
resources

Question: How do you measure happiness? How is the concept of happiness related to
development?

Happiness is measured by a person’s satisfaction with his life. According to

Richard Layard, there are seven factors that affect average national happiness: family
relationships, financial situation, work, community and friends, health, personal
freedom, and personal values. These factors are also the measurement of the
development of a nation. Thus, the happiness of the citizens also reflects the
development of a country. The happier the citizens are, the more developed a nation is.

There are 3 core values of development that will enable us to better understand the inner
dimension of change or transformation that can be affected in an individual- sustenance, self-
esteem and freedom. 

Question: Are this core values indispensable to the inner development of a person? Would the
absence or lack of one core value create a vacuum in the person?

The presence of the three core values is the key in understanding the inner
development; thus, these values are indispensable to the development of a person.
These values measure the well-being of a person and indicates if a person is satisfied
with the resources that he/she has.
These values also represent the human needs that enrich a person’s well-being.
These are all equally needed for a person’s happiness and contentment. Therefore, the
absence or lack of any of it would result in dissatisfaction and bring frustration, and this
would decrease the person’s well-being.
The nature and character of development when embedded in the people will definitely allow
the country to realize its goals of development.

Case Study #1: Progress in the Struggle for more Meaningful Development: Brazil

Instruction: Read carefully the case study and answer the following questions:

1. Describe the two faces of development in Brazil.  Why is Brazil cited as a country that
experienced growth without development?
2. What do you think would be the greatest challenge that will confront Brazil in its efforts
toward achieving full development? What can enliven Brazil’s quest toward full
development?
3. Where is Brazil now in its quest for development?

1. There are two faces of development in Brazil – the developed and the developing
sectors. According to the text, world-competitive industry coexists with stagnant,
protected sectors and modern agriculture coexists with low-productivity traditional
practices. This means that other sectors can be already considered as developed while
the remaining sectors are still on a poor condition and are still needed to be given
attention.
Brazil has experienced economic growth in the past because of its manufacturing
exports; however, other factors affecting development remained at low rate. As
mentioned in the text, growth is necessary but not sufficient for achieving development.
Thus, the growth experienced by Brazil, which also eventually declined, was not
sufficient for the country to become one of the developed nations. For this, Brazil was
labeled as a country that experienced growth without development.

2. The greatest challenge that will confront Brazil is overcoming its economic issues
through a good governance. It was cited in the text that the government spending of this
country has been inefficient. Brazil has the chance to become one of the developed
countries, if only the government would allocate its resources efficiently and create
projects and programs to address the issues of poverty, inequality, social disparities,
and environmental decay.

3. Brazil has been showing progress for the past years. However, it is still far from
being a developed country. There are various economic issues that hinder the country
in achieving full development. Hence, Brazil should focus its attention in addressing
these issues to attain the development that it has been trying to achieve for a long time.
They should innovate and develop organized plans to boost its economic activities and
uplift the well-being of its citizens.