Aalizae Anwar Yazdani

20U00132, Section A
Development Economics

Case Study 1: Progress in the struggle for more meaningful development: Brazil

1) What critical issues are raised from the examination of development problems and
prospects facing Brazil?
Ans: As with the case with any other heavily populated society, Brazil also has to face problems
regarding the growth and development of their country. Citizens of Brazil have dubbed this city
as one where there is “growth without development.” This is due to their uneven rate of
development because of the problems they face with respect to their social and economic
progress. Firstly, Brazil’s income is a major cause of concern which was $11,000 per capita, less
than a quarter from the USA but still nine times more than that of Haiti (World Bank). Moreover,
60% of the lower class of Brazil’s population face inequality with respect to their income, as
they only receive 0.8% of the country’s total GDP. This affects the rate of development as the
purchasing power of more than half of the population is reduced. Brazil is also a highly indebted
country due to its infrastructure which limits its development capabilities. Moving on, social
indicators are also a major reason for the development problems being faced by Brazil. This
country has a low human development index, which indicates that its individual citizens’
capacities are eight points lower than they should be based on their wages. Similarly, life
expectancy and malnutrition are also major issues that hinder their rate of growth. Even though
there have been movements to reduce this problem, child labor still remains a major concern.
Brazil also faces extreme levels of poverty, where people are earning less than $1 per day.
Fortunately, the Brazilian Government program of “conditional cash transfers” provides
resources to families in exchange for their children staying in school. The implementation of this
program has reduced levels of poverty. Likewise, the agricultural sector of Brazil has been one
of the first pillars for the economy, thus having land reforms prevent benefits to the farmers has
also stalled the development of the economy. Lastly, racial discrimination is faced by the black
community living in Brazil despite the fact that most of the population consists of black people.
People of color who face prejudice include government workers, the labor force, and other
sectors. This means there are more white workers in Brazil even though it has a higher
percentage of colored people.
Conclusively, we can see that Brazil faces more social issues rather than issues concerning
economic growth. Hence, it can be stated that “ Brazil has economic growth without much social
development”. Thus, their focus should be prioritized in solving social difficulties in order to
quicken their pace of economic development.
 2) Why is a strictly economic definition of development inadequate? What do you
understand economic development to mean? Can you give hypothetical or real
examples of situations in which a country may be developing economically but may
still be underdeveloped?
Ans: Development refers to the process of raising the standard of living, self-esteem, and
independence in order to improve the quality of life and human capabilities. However, this
definition of development has proved to be inadequate as it leaves out factors other than financial
and economic such as quality of education, social development, cultural development, e.t.c.
Development Economics also refers to efficient resource allocation and also deals with the
economic, social, political, institutions that are necessary to promote growth. Thus, we can say
that development economics, is at a level greater than traditional neoclassical economics or even
political economy, and is concerned with the economic, cultural, and political requirements for
effecting rapid structural and institutional transformations of entire societies in a manner that will
most efficiently bring about the fruits of economic progress to the broadest segments of their
populations. Therefore, a higher level of government engagement and some degree of
coordinated economic decision-making aimed at changing the economy are regarded as vital
parts of development economics. All this must still be achieved despite the fact that both
governments and the markets do not function as well in the developing world. Recently, both
national and international NGO activities have developed at a rapid rate. In strictly economic
terms, development has traditionally meant that the growth rates of income per capita are
achieved at a constant rate to enable a nation to expand its output at a rate faster than the growth
rate of its population. In the past, Economic development has been thought of typically dealing
with planned changes in the structure of production and employment so that agriculture’s share
of both declines and that of the manufacturing and service industries increases. So, many
development plans have focused on rapid industrialization, often at the expense of agriculture
and rural development. Poverty, discrimination, unemployment, and income distribution were
the problems that were of secondary importance “to getting the job done” in terms of growth.
The focus is often on increased output, measured by GDP.