Economic and Social Development Answers

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: (Students need to consider more than just a stable economy/high GDP as a measure of modernization. Suggestions should include improvements to lifestyle, which often are linked with an improved economy. Some suggestions for greater equality in global economic development include eliminating core countries’ control of peripheral countries’ goods, services, or economies, other than for trade and investment purposes; developing underdeveloped nations’ education systems; and core countries providing aid in the form of supporting human needs or modeling/setting up programs to move a country toward sustainability and economic security.)

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: These models provide various explanations for the disparities in economic development. Wallerstein’s world systems theory divides the world into core, semi-periphery, and periphery nations. According to this theory, core nations are highly developed nations, semi-periphery are developing nations, and periphery are underdeveloped nations. This theory intersects with the Brandt Line model of economic geography in that most underdeveloped nations fall within the Brandt Line, which divides the world between the North and South, the North being developed nations. Furthermore, according to Wallerstein, core and periphery nations work together for their developmental needs. Yet, from a neocolonialist perspective, these core nations also once were the colonizers of the peripheral nations. As a result, they continue to dictate the underdeveloped nations' economies and trade, and subsequently, their independence. Economic growth is required for periphery countries to move from subsistence/agricultural economies to industrialization, as the Rostow Modernization model demands.

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: The first map shows colonized nations in 1945. European powers had colonized vulnerable and faltering nations to undergird their economies. The second map shows that, even more than 50 years later, the majority of moderately developed or underdeveloped nations were former colonies of the presently highly developed nations. This conclusion supports neocolonialism in that former colonies have moved toward industrialization and economic independence. The economies of the former colonies are still, to an extent, dictated by, and even hampered by, their former colonizers.

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: The majority of Africa and India were post-World War II colonies of superpowers like Britain, France, Japan, and the United States. The colonizers exploited these countries for cheap labor and resources. When the colonies finally gained independence, the colonizers still exerted influence over the countries’ economies. Several economists argue that, as a result of this outside influence, these countries cannot easily move through Walt Rostow’s process for modernization. Instead, they stay somewhat subjugated to their former colonizers, who continue to dictate world trade and the global economy.

Responses may vary but should include some or all of the following information: The GPI is an alternative to measuring development beyond just the economic focus of GDP. The GPI considers social and sustainability factors along with GDP data. Social and sustainability factors include lifestyle concerns, like the ratio of work to leisure time; human needs, like education and a secure environment; income distribution, like poverty and affluence; and environmental needs, like clean water, pollution, and sanitation. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether a country is developed, developing, or underdeveloped, and to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. While a country may excel in GDP, its development ranking according to one of these indicators may rise or fall depending on the quality of life it provides its people.