Development Is Only Concerned With The Economic Growth Of A Country Essay

Introduction

Development is not only concerned with the economic growth of a country. It is influenced by various factors. This essay will critically and comprehensively address several issues including the problem associated with measuring a country’s development using the indicators of wealth. Moreover, it will indicate the extent at which countries with similar average income differs from each other in welfare of their citizens. Nonetheless, the paper will address my opinion about the definition of development as expounded throughout the essay.

Question 1

Development cannot be determined by indicators of wealth only because it is influenced by basic ingredients. Real development means that the society is comfortable with the values and capacity associated with it. Indicators of wealth do not determine whether development is culturally, economically, technologically and environmentally acceptable (Eade & Sim, 2010). Indicators of wealth are not a suitable measure of growth since they only measures income and growth and fails to quantify equality and destruction. The indicators of wealth fail to measure the culturally acceptable values within the society like social cohesion making them inaccurate in determining the development of a country. Justice, equality and social cohesion are among factors that indicate the development of a country but are not measurable by indicators of wealth. Various factors determine the quality of life in a population.

Question 2

Countries with similar average income differ in terms of development because the average income does not define the welfare of the citizens. In other words, such countries might differ in terms of access to health care and education, availability of clean air and water, employment opportunities and the threat of crime among other factors. Such phenomena occur because the country’s wealth, which is reflected by available resources, does not provide information about the resources allocation. Various factors differs in such countries include distribution of income, resources allocation to essential services such as education and health, and the externality caused by country’s production and consumption. In addition, countries are different in the way they prioritize their deployment policies (Keane & Mallon, 2010).Different countries have different goals and mean of development hence the difference in the level of development between the countries. Therefore, although countries might have the same average income, their levels of development might be different. In such way countries with the same average income are different in the sense that some countries more developed than other countries.

Question 3

According to the United Nations, the “human development” is a term that reflects the “life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education,” and people’s average income. The people’s average income is defined as the necessary condition for the people’s freedom of choice. Therefore, a country can be said to have accomplished development if it has a high standard of living, developed industrial base, self-sustaining economic growth, and high Human Development Index. The author suggests that development should change for a better scenario that is appropriate in terms of social, economic, culture, technology, and the environment.

Conclusion

As illustrated above, development is not only concerned with the economic growth of a country since various factors determine the economic growth. Development must measure the culturally acceptable values within the society like justice, equality, social cohesion and quality of life. Therefore, it is inappropriate to measure development using the indicators of wealth only. Other factors like relationships and a peaceful environment must be put into consideration. It is also accurate to argue that Countries with similar average income differ in terms of development because an average income fails define the welfare of the citizens.

References

Eade, D., & Sim, H. (2010). The Road to development. Development in Practice. Development in Practice, 5(2). doi:10.1080/0961452951000157114
Keane, J., & Mallon, S. (2010). Beyond Economic Growth. Reading: Garnet.
Richards, N., & Goater, L. (2010). Sustaining development in the twenty first century. Oxford: UOP.
Smith, A., & Rowling, H. (n.d.). The role of policy in developing countries. Retrieved from www.Developingcountries.com
United Nations. (n.d.). What is a Developing Country? Retrieved from http://www.educationalpathwaysinternational.org/?page_id=97