1) 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 still be underdeveloped?
Economic development is the process of improving the quality of life of
people in a country. This definition is inadequate because even though
based on its economy, a country is dependent on so many other factors for
its overall growth. The aspects based on the definition that are not included
in this concept are not calculable or quantifiable. Economic development
does not only lie in the concept of financial aspect, but also greatly affects
the growth with the individuals taking part in the society.
An indicator of a country developing economically is when a country
shows economic growth through increased GNP per capita. But that country
is underdeveloped when the increase in GNP is resulted by perverse
situations brought about by undesirable activities. Conflict, for example,
contributes to increased production and consequently growth, despite the
fact that the significant consequences of war on development greatly
outweigh any positives. (McAleese, 2001). Wars in connection to this can
lead to high rates of poverty and lower level of Human Development Index
(HDI).