Development and Poverty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Development and Poverty - Term Paper Example The concept, however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially Industrialization are other terms people have used when discussing economic development. Although no one is sure when the concept originated, most people agree that development is closely bound up with the evolution of capitalism and the demise of feudalism.† (University of Iowa's Center for International Finance and Development) To improve the economic stability, the government of a country must aims at directing its policies in the right directions. It should endeavor to achieve some basic objectives, such as price control, increasing employment and trade opportunities. The government should strive hard to improve the civil and social infrastructure, like highways, affordable housing for its people, so that the overall economy of the country booms and its benefit is transferred to the people at grass root level. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a compound a nd complex guide to rank the countries of the world by their level of human development. It differentiates the countries into four categories, which are "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries. ... Poverty The unavailability of material possession, finances and basic human need such as shelter, food etc refers to the poverty of the people of a particular country. Basic human necessities, such as food, water, shelter, education, health, nutrition etc are the responsibility of the government. But when the government fails to provide its people these facilities then the people are forced to live a life of poverty. The poverty threshold or the poverty line is the minimum level of income which is required to access these basic needs. People who are not even able to access these fundamental needs are said to be living a life below the poverty line. It is estimated that about 1.7 billion people across the globe are living their lives below the poverty line. Poverty is the worst form of violence. (Mohandas Gandhi)   There are many ways of measuring the poverty of the people of a particular region. Among them are the Gini Coefficient and the Headcount Index. The Gini Coefficient was d eveloped by an Italian statistician Corrado Gini. It is a measure of the statistical dispersion and measures the inequality of a distribution. It tells how wealth is distributed in a particular region, or among the different classes living in the society. The Headcount Index gives the proportion of the people who are forced to live a life below the poverty line. If â€Å"p† people are considered to be living below the poverty line in a population of â€Å"n†, then the Headcount Index â€Å"H† can be calculated as H=p/n. To calculate the Headcount Index, the estimates of the individual economic condition and the poverty line of that particular region is required. Poverty in South America South America is a region of the world which has a very high poverty rate even

China has excellent environmental policies on paper. The problem is Essay

China has excellent environmental policies on paper. The problem is that the policies are not implemented do you agree with this - Essay Example â€Å"The high-growth, resource-intensive development strategy China has pursued, coupled with the norms and institutional relationships designed to support this development strategy, have no doubt played a critical role in the deteriorating quality of the environment† (Jahiel, n.d., p. 34). The decentralization of economy has provided the officials both operating at the provincial level and at the regional level with incentives and means to develop and advance the local economies. There has been a pervasive emphasis on the consumerism, development, and profit in the proclamations of the government as well as throughout the society. This has made the local governments feel justified in intervening against such regulations as environmental protection since they are considered unfavorable to the growth of economy. Rapid growth of economy has been the major goal of the Chinese state since the 1990’s. This goal has been supported by the state by means of institutional arran gements like creation of the consumerist and growth-oriented social norms, and the decentralization of political economy that spurs local initiative. ... ild pursuit of economic growth, and failed to avoid some of the worst pollution scenarios we, as policymakers, had predicted† (Geping cited in King, 2013). In its attempt to maintain the economic boom, the enterprises owned by state in China that account for the employment of up to 110 to 115 million workers need to be shut down or streamlined, which would result in the ruse of social dislocation as well as unemployment (Knup, n.d., p. 9). There is a lot of tendency of growth in the social unrest as the urban centers teem with the unemployed people providing them with no previous benefits. Demands of more consumer goods and food have increased because of the rising standards of living at the same time, that have increased the pressure on the government to sustain further growth of economy since the expectations of the people have to be satisfied. Indeed, the biggest challenge that the Chinese leaders are facing today is how to sustain the growth of economy and simultaneously ad dress the rising social challenges. China faces significant environmental challenges-what is it doing to head them off? Transformations in the environmental policies of China are a fundamental component of the Scientific Outlook on Development that is amongst the major national strategic theories of China. With the frequent occurrence of natural disasters and climate changes on a global scale, the whole world has paid attention toward China’s environmental policy, since it is a major power of the world in the present age. China induced major changes in its environmental policy in the 1990s. The environmental policy was integrated into the growth strategy of China. China went on board with a comprehensive approach to the environmental policy as the administration of Hu Jintao commenced in the