Fundamentals

of
Economic Development

Kezia Mae G. Dones

ECN 103 5.1B
“Why some countries are poor and others are rich”

There are three factors in order for a country to be considered rich or poor. These are the
institutions, culture and geography. As a matter of fact, all countries are growing but growing at
their own pace. The United States of America is one of the most developed countries and is
considered to be rich because of its fast growing economy. On the other hand, Zimbabwe is
growing very slow that in order for it to be considered rich, it has to wait for the next 2,722 years.
Those three factors have a great impact in the development of a certain country. One of the
factor is the institution, rich countries have good institutions because they seek for the
improvement and development of their country. Opposite from the rich countries, poor
countries whose government are considered to be the most corrupt one, they don’t invest for
the development resulting for them to have no room for improvements. It is ironic to think that
those very poor are also the most corrupt one. The second factor is the culture. Poor countries
are still practicing clan-based thinking, a practice where employer are favoring his/her relatives
in employment. That leads to limited opportunities for other people. And citizens from poor
countries often depends on their beliefs, specifically on their religious beliefs. Unlike those
people on rich country who strives to have a good and abundant life. The third factor is the
geography. Most of the poor countries are located in tropical areas, where diseases are rampant
and are having difficulties in farming (agriculture).

Citizens living in a country have a very important role in the development of their
economy. With proper mindset and education there’s always a room for improvement.
“How to make a country rich?”

All of us wants to be in a rich country, living in abundance and having everything we want.
When we think of a rich country, the first thing that comes in our mind is money. Not thinking
about all the effort and sacrifices we invest to achieve those ambitions or to have those wealth.
The video emphasizes that people living in richland are investing more of their time and effort
just to earn money and to have a good social life. People in rich country often suffer from
depression because of the pressure they’re into. Pressure brought to them in living in rich
country, where only the best are appreciated and acknowledged. People who are inferior from
others are pushed aside without acknowledging their worth and talent.

A rich country is also called an industrialized country or more economically developed

country. Most of those rich country are investing in different sectors to further improve their
living conditions or the quality of life. The video “how to make a country rich” laid the 8 core
requirements in order for a country to be rich. These are the following: Military security and law
and order, lack of corruption in institutions, low red tape around employment legislation and
taxation, education, mobile, flexible labour force, high grade infrastructure and
telecommunications, fair, transparent and competitive markets reliably enforceable contracts
and low corporation tax.
“Third World vs First World Countries: What’s the difference?”

The terms first world and third world countries was first used by a French Demographer
Alfred Sauvy to describe developed, developing and the rest which is the very poor country.
Countries that belongs to first world are those that has a high Human Development Index (HDI),
which can be measured by the country’s life expectancy index, education index and income
index. Another parameter is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita or the dividing of GDP
of that certain country by its population. A professor in Harvard first used the term “fourth world”
which he used to describe first world countries with a third world standard. In the video “Third
World vs First World Countries”, we often judge a country whether it is developed or not by the
stage of its industrialization. UK which is considered as the most industrialized country only
ranked 16th in the human development index. USA which is fourth in the stage of industrialization
only ranked 10th in the human development index. Industrialization in a certain country implies
that it is developed and/or developing but that doesn’t really mean that less industrialized
country are not developing. All countries are developing but some are facing major changes.
Norway is one of the most developed country, HDI is high as well as the GDP per capita. Its GDP
is one of the highest in the world with a population of 5.2 million that results a high GDP per
capita. India on the other hand, has 1.324 billion population and ranked 143rd in the world’s
measurement of GDP per capita. Third world countries usually suffer from crimes, violation of
human rights and corruption. Each of us has our own way of living, some desires to be in a first
world and others just want to live simply on what they used to.
“The Rich, the poor and the trash.”

The countries Kenya and USA are being compared in “The rich, the poor and the trash”.
The inequality between that the rich and the poor are getting larger. As the rich continue
becoming richer the poor also continue becoming poorer. One of the citizen of Kenya shows how
he lives day by day, waking up early in the morning collecting garbage in the dumpsite just to
feed his family. His income is enough to survive just one day, so he needs to work every single
day to support his family. Comparing the two said countries, which can be classified as a first and
third world country, the gap between them is so big. The first world country is more advance and
more industrialized compared to the third world country.

As the country continue to develop, lots of trash are also generated. USA, one of the most
developed countries is also one of the most wasteful urban area in the earth. An anthropologist
mentioned that as long as we keep moving fast, were can generate lots of lots of trash. Trash
doesn’t exist, we can decide that it’s not trash it is simply in between of our use and its next use.
Some people in the rich country is doing their initiative to help reduce the trash that they
produce. Others are using their innovative mind to transform trash to art. Art from trash that are
bought by rich people in large amount of money. From my own perspective, poor people are not
to be blame why they are poor. Sometimes, they don’t really have the opportunity to make their
lives better because of poverty. The government must also prioritize building infrastructure that
can help the poor to make their future better.
“The Philippines’ Baby Factory (Ang pabrika ng sanggol ng Plilipinas).”

Teenage pregnancy, being pregnant in a young age is one of the inevitable problem that
the Philippines is currently facing. Philippines which has one of the lowest consent (12 years old)
compared to other country. Teenage girls usually suffers from miscarriage due to lack of
knowledge about that certain issue. Some of them didn’t even know that they’re pregnant. Some
are getting abortion just to cover their mistakes. Young girls usually are having relationship with
a much older man. For example May-may a 13 years old girl is in a relationship with a 22 years
old man. Certain province in the Philippines admit that they are not allocating enough budget in
teenage pregnancy program. It must be better if young girls are educated about things that they
shouldn’t do, just like the saying says “Prevention is better than cure”. The education about this
thing must start at home, parents must educate their children for them to be more aware about
what are happening around them. More than 2000 babies are born in one of the maternity
hospitals in the Philippines, all of it are babies of a teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy also
affects the productivity of the country in a way that teenagers can’t finish their studies due to
pregnancy. And with that many teenagers can’t participate in economic activities.

Another reason about this issue is the religious sector of the country who is against the
reproductive health bill, specifically the contraceptives. As a responsible citizen of this country
we must learn to control ourselves not to do things that we’re not supposed to do. Others are
mentioning love as one of the reasons for that action, it might be love but doing big mistake
because of it makes it “not love” at all. Christians believe that we all have the innate capability to
control ourselves. With enough education and proper guidance of our guardians, we can
definitely avoid this kind of crisis.
“The Secret Slave of the Middle East.”

Human trafficking and illegal recruiting in Lebanon are very rampant. Workers are
promised of a different job by their agencies but after arriving in Lebanon they will all be just
maids of a Lebanese family. Not denying the fact that Overseas Filipino workers are abused and
sexually harassed in the Middle East, more Filipinos are willing to take risks to support the needs
of their family. Maids from the Philippines are rated highly compared to maids from other
country. With a $5000 you can already get a Filipino maid for two years and $1800 for Ethiopian
maid, simply because Filipinos are literate enough to speak English. Maids in that country are
working non-stop with no day offs, they don’t have a choice because of this Kafala System. Kafala
system in Lebanon is like a sponsorship system where the legal residency of the worker is tied to
the employer. Other than this, the passport of the said worker is in the hand of their employer,
that leave them no choice but to stay and experience the horror.

For almost 20 years, Doumit Family, a Lebanese family had been illegally recruiting Filipino
women to work in Lebanon. They say that what they’re doing is human trafficking, it is like buying
cars and selling it illegally the difference is, human is what we’re talking about. Poverty is one of
the main reason why Filipinos choose to work abroad. Wage outside the country is much bigger
than here, some people think that working abroad is the only way to make their life better.
Leaving their children and family behind is a big sacrifice for them, setting it aside just to provide
their family a good life.