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AE12 Module 1 Economic Development A Global Perspective

The document discusses the nature of development economics and how it aims to efficiently allocate resources to improve living standards. It defines development as sustained economic growth and increasing income per capita. The core values of development are meeting basic needs, self-esteem, and freedom from servitude. The objectives are raising living standards, increasing material well-being, and expanding economic choices. The Millennium Development Goals aim to reduce poverty, improve health and education, and foster global partnerships by 2015.

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Saclao John Mark Galang
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791 views

AE12 Module 1 Economic Development A Global Perspective

The document discusses the nature of development economics and how it aims to efficiently allocate resources to improve living standards. It defines development as sustained economic growth and increasing income per capita. The core values of development are meeting basic needs, self-esteem, and freedom from servitude. The objectives are raising living standards, increasing material well-being, and expanding economic choices. The Millennium Development Goals aim to reduce poverty, improve health and education, and foster global partnerships by 2015.

Uploaded by

Saclao John Mark Galang
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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AE12 Module 1- Economic Development: A Global Perspective

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the module, students shall be able to:

1. Discuss the nature of development economics.


2. Explain the meaning of development.
3. Explain the three core values of development.
4. Explain the three objectives of development
5. Discuss the millennium of development goals.

Nature of Development Economics

Traditional economics is concerned primarily with the efficient, least cost allocation of scarce
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 goes beyond traditional economics to study social and institutional processes
through which certain groups of economic and political elites influence the allocation of scarce
productive resources now and in the future, either for their own benefit exclusively or for that of the
larger population as well.

Political economy is concerned 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 scarce productive
resources and with their sustained growth over time.

It must also deal with the economic, social, political and institutional mechanisms, both public and
private, necessary to bring about rapid and large-scale improvements in the levels of living for the
people.

Definition of Development

Development has traditionally meant the capacity of a national economy, whose initial economic
condition has been more or less static for a long time to generate and sustain an annual increase in
its gross national income at rates of 5% to 7% or more.

A common alternative economic index of development has been the use of rates of growth of
income per capita to take into account the ability of a nation to expand its output at a rate faster
than the growth rate of its population.

Levels and rate of growth of real per capita GNI (monetary growth of GNI per capita minus the rate
of inflation) are normally used to measure the overall economic well-being of population- how much
of the real goods and services is available to the average citizen for consumption and investment.
Three Core Values of Development

The following core values serve as a conceptual basis and practical guideline for understanding the
inner meaning of development

1. Sustenance: The ability to meet basic needs- life sustaining basic needs include food,
shelter , health and protection. When any of these is absent or in critically short supply, a
condition of underdevelopment exists.
2. Self-esteem: to be a person- a sense of worth and self-respect is the second universal
component of the good life
3. Freedom from servitude- involves an expanded range of choice from societies and their
members together with a minimization of external constraints in the pursuit of some social
goal called development. It also encompass to personal security, the rule of law, freedom of
expression, political participation and equality of opportunity.

Objectives of Development
1. To increase the availability and widens the distribution of basic life sustaining goods such as
food, shelter, health and protection.
2. To raise level of living in order to enhance material well-being and generate greater
individual and national self-esteem.
3. To expand the range of economic and social choices available to individual s 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.

The Millennium Development Goals


1. To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. To achieve universal primary education
3. To promote gender equality and empower women
4. To reduce child mortality
5. To improve maternal health
6. To combat HIV/AIDs, malaria and other disease
7. To ensure environmental sustainability
8. To develop a global partnership for development

Activities

A. From the quotations below, write an explanation based on your perceptions. (10 points
each)
1. “We have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality
and equity at the global level. As leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world’s
people especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to
whom the future belongs”. (United Nations, Millennium Declaration, September 8,
2000).
2. “What is the meaning of growth if it is not translated into the lives of people? (United
Nations Development Program, Human Development Report, 1995).
3. “Development can be seen….as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people
enjoy”. (Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate in Economics).
4. “One primary goal in development must be to reduce the disparities across and within
countries. …The key development challenge of our time is the challenge of inclusion”.
(James D. Wolfensohn, former president, World Bank).

B. Answer the following. (5 points each)


1. Explain the meaning of development
2. Discuss the three core values of development.
3. Explain the objectives of development
4. Explain the eight millennium development goals.

Reference:
Todaro, Michael P and Smith, Stephen c. (2009), Economic Development (10 th Edition), London:
Pearson Education Limited.

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