poorest two-thirds of the world's population. • These poor are the vast majority, but not all, of the population of developing countries, which comprise 82 percent of the world’s population. • If you have an average income in the United States and Canada, you are among the richest 5 percent of the world's population.
Inequality between the world’s rich and poor • 700-1,000 million (10-15%) of world’s 6.5 billion (5.3 billion in less developed countries or LDCs) are living on no more than $1/day (i.e., in 1985 prices, $1.50 in 1993 prices, $2/day in 2005 prices). • A person’s material well-being (whether rich, poor, or in between) is tied to the long-run growth record of his or her country, a focus of this course. • Income inequality is even greater for the world as a whole than for South Africa and Brazil.
Globalization, Outsourcing, & Information Technology • India & other Asian economies gain from economic growth and reform. • A.P. D’Costa (2003): of India “You have fiber optic lines running parallel with bullock carts.” • India’s and US’s worlds increasingly intersecting. • Asia’s competition and American protests.
1. How do the poorest two-thirds of the world live?
2. What is the meaning of economic development and economic growth? 3. What is the history of economic development? How have developing countries performed economically in the last half century? 4. What are the major characteristics and institutions of developing countries? 5. What are the major theories of economic development? 6. Has economic growth in the third world improved the living conditions of its poor? 7. How can poverty be reduced in the rural areas of low-income countries? 8. What effect does population growth have on economic development? 9. Why is there so much unemployment in developing countries? 10. What factors affect labor skills in the third world? continued