Divine Word College of San Jose

San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

Economic Development
Second Semester, A.Y. 2021-2022

Activity 1

Name: Abeleda, Gertrude S. Date: Feb. 2, 2022

Course & Year level: BSA 1

1. Why is economics central to an understanding of the problems of development?

- Every country have extensive needs with very scarce resources, necessitating difficult
choices. That is why economics is central to understanding developing countries. The field of
development economics is concerned with the causes of underdevelopment and with policies
that may accelerate the rate of growth of per capita income. Economic development is a
critical component that drives economic growth in our economy, creating high wage jobs and
facilitating an improved quality of life.

2. Is the concept of the developing world a useful one? Why or why not?
- Yes the developing world is a useful one. It is distinct yet very important extension of
both traditional economics and political economy. While necessarily also concerned
with efficient resource allocation and the steady growth of aggregate output over time,
development economics focuses primarily on the economic, social, and institutional
mechanisms needed to bring about rapid and large-scale improvements in standards of
living for the masses of poor people in developing nations.
3. What do you hope to gain from this course on development economics?
- In this course I hope to gain a better understanding of a number of critical questions
about the economies of developing nations. I hope to grasp the concept of
development and why it is essential. I hope to gain the opportunity to learn the tools of
economic analysis for the problems and challenges facing less-developed countries and be
able to apply them. I hope to have the knowledge to why some countries have been able to go
through a process of economic and human development whilst others have languished.

4. Briefly describe the various definitions of the term development encountered in the text. What are
the strengths and weaknesses of each approach? Do you think that there are other dimensions of
development not mentioned in the text? If so, describe them. If not, explain why you believe that
the text description of development is adequate.
- The book defines development as the process of improving the quality of all human lives and
capabilities by raising people’s levels of living, self-esteem, and freedom. Traditional view of
the term development means the rate of growth of a country's per capita income and GDP that
is able enough to carry out production on a faster pace and able to feed its population. GDP is
easy to be compared to any countries
5. Why is an understanding of development crucial to policy formulation in developing nations? Do
you think it is possible for a nation to agree on a rough definition of development and orient its
strategies accordingly?
- The aim of any policy is to bring about positive changes in the economy. Theories are not
adapted to all countries. Understanding of development crucial is because it makes sure that
in which area the country needs to develop and then accordingly it should formulate its
policies. You can see the trend or the relation of economics of developing. Most developing
countries have excellent policy papers, but those are not implemented in reality. It is like
Afghanistan, where there were 3,000,000 soldiers in their registers, taking salary from the
government. But a former minister claims that most of those soldiers did not really exist,
fictitious names were included to steal public money! This is how development activities in
developing countries are implemented (military is off-course not a development activity)