What the Development of a Country Lies on - Essay Example

Development of countries Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction Development of countries remains uneven and varying across the countries as the continent’s average performance marks wide income, spatial and gender inequality. There has been advancement of these indicators such as elimination of gender bias, stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS, eradication of poverty, and utilization of the resources (Eshag, 1983). In some countries, poverty level is not declining enough as millions of unemployed youths, preventable maternal mortality is still high and they are facing undeveloped health services (Kamel, 2006). Most of these countries are also facing diverse environmental challenges connected water scarcity, climate changes, land degradation and resilience to natural disasters. Marxist ideas on the development of the country through the structuralist analyses of the global political economy can assist the less developed countries to increase the living standard of the people. He states that the country should combine labour and the available assets so as to create a commodity to be profitably sold (Baffoe, & Khayum, 2003). Most of these less developed countries may fail to achieve this as they have inadequate resources that are combined with unskilled labour. Most of these countries remain to face challenge in the different types of unemployment. For example, most of these countries are importing in appropriate technologies that lead to high level of unemployment. Marx also states that most of these countries must change political economy if they wish to develop. Most of these countries still have poor governance that drags them behind in terms of development and relationship with other countries. For example, some countries still face dictatorship that leads to the development of own interest and kill the voice of the citizens (Kamel, 2006). The country must also provide a conducive environment so as to increase political stability in the country. Therefore, for under developed countries to increase development, they need to structure their form of governance. The achievement to this can only be realized if their respective leaders conduct fair elections, increase the level of accountancy allow citizens to participate freely in the development of the country. Marx also suggests that, for a country to achieve development there must be increased innovations of technologies in the different sectors of production. Most of these less developed countries lack enough resources to foster the development of technology in the various sectors of production (Eshag, 1983). Therefore, the government should invest it resources in education so as to raise the level of education that improves the level of innovation in the production process. The government should also implement new technologies in the manufacturing process of its products so as to increase the quantity and quality of the produced goods and services. Through the strategy, it increases its market share in the global market and hence increases in profit realization. Finally, Marx proposes that the countries practising capitalist should switch from the activity. This is because the elite hold the capital and the other workers depend on them for a living. The form of practice by a country, leads to less participation in the activities of productions in the different sectors (Baffoe, & Khayum, 2003). The government is advised to involve everybody in the work force and pay according to the work done. This increases the level of participation in the activities of the country and gives the worker an interest in changing the social system. There are other researchers such as Adam Smith and Ricardo who advocated economic liberalism in Britain in 1840s. Here the individual were allowed to make their rational choices in their own interest. The people were allowed to conduct free trade of goods and services, have free speech. There are researchers who also advocated free markets and free trade without government interference. Although it was a good strategy, the use of this law to these less developed countries could face a great challenge of inflation and depreciation of medium of exchange if it were to be applied (Kamel, 2006). The introduction of the Corn Laws was a major boost toward liberalism. Corn Law allowed mercantilist to raise the price of grain, the profit of land owners and supply for the working class. The Corn Laws protected the agricultural interest which dominated the parliament. The policies failed to work after Wall Street financial depression in 1929. Keynes believed that the absence of a government decision in the activity carried out was not imperfect and believed that people tend to make imperfect decisions (Dine & Fagan, 2006). Keynesianism combined market and state influences to offset collective irrationality. He then concluded that in order for the country to develop, it must spend when the company or the individuals do not spend. For development of a country, there must be a stable circular flow of income in the economy, the country must always adjust its injections and withdraws whenever they are needed into the system. That is, the government should collect its revenues through taxations, selling of government bonds but it should as well be available to inject capital through building of infrastructures. When the developing countries observe their circular flow of income, therefore increased development in the country improves the living standard of its people. The developing countries should also put into consideration the imposed taxes to the investors (Rahnama, Samavati, & Dilts, 1995). A high taxation to the investor may discourage them from investing into the country and this tends to reduce the number of companies in the country hence reducing employment in the country. Most of these developing countries may fail to meet the objectives of these policies because most of their governments lack transparency in their activities. Most of this government are involved in corruptions and also mismanagement of the available resources. Due to these factors, the circular cash flow may not balance due to withdrawal of unnecessary spending and poor collection of the revenue (Kamel, 2006). When there is an imbalance of the revenue and investment, there is a poor indicator of development of these countries. Keynes theory also advocated for the developing countries to use mixed economic policy. Here the public and the private sectors merge in the ownership. There are Nations are also advice to use both macro and micro economics. Macro economics includes taxations while microeconomics may include imports and exports. The use of the two policies helps the less developed nations to stabilize in times of depression and recessions. The policies may not be much implemented in the developing countries due to imbalances of the value of the goods and services produced by these countries (Dine & Fagan, 2006). For example, the export from most of the African countries is of lower value compared to imports from the developed countries (Rahnama, Samavati, & Dilts, 1995). The developing Nations should switch from primary production to secondary production for them to develop. In his argument, Corn suggests that lack integration by the countries, always slow the growth of the country. Through the local trade, the country may not gain a lot and it’s important for the countries to increase integration with others hence reducing cost of production of some commodities (Dine & Fagan, 2006). British indicated a good example when the Corn Laws were repealed and its export increased, hence creating an expansion of British economy and building national power as well as wealth. The integration between the different Nations especially the less developed may have less gain due to the value of export as well as the terms and conditions for the integration. Most of this integration requires huge capital and procedure. Johns mill, a great economist, argued that for a country to develop there has to be competition. Competition in goods and services produced by country always create a platform for increased quality products as well as utilization of the available resources. With high quality goods, the country can increase its sale hence increase in profit realization and also increase of employment (Dine & Fagan, 2006). Most of the developing countries have little strength to sustain themselves in the competition with those developed Nations. The main factor that drives to this weakness is the lack of capital and improved technology. Most of these countries have a high cost of production due to outdated technology that increases the cost of production. The less developed countries lack energy to be used in the industries. Due to these factors, their final product is always high and faces stiff competition from the cheap product from those developed countries. Johns mill also argued that, for the Nation to develop there should be also much investment on education by the government. Through implementation of education, there tend to be increased skilled labour force in the country for the available industries. The increase of education leads to increased innovations hence increase of quality product that increases the demand in the market (Dine & Fagan, 2006). Most of the less developed Nations have poor investment on education due to lack of capital and required labour force because of the poor education, a prolonged chain of poor innovation, poor production, poor quality and poor sales is realized. As a result, there tend to be closure of many companies and hence increases in unemployment. Keynes also argued that the government should play the function of providing high wages, full employment and controlling of inflation (Kamel, 2006). The objective can only be met if there are increased governments projects and injections in the country that provide employment to its people. The government should, therefore, consider the unemployment facing the country and increase the effort to eliminate it. For example, the technological unemployment that faces most of the less developed countries should be avoided or minimized. The government should also control inflation that hinders the smooth functioning of the government by putting necessary measures to the rising inflation (Rahnama, Samavati, & Dilts, 1995). Conclusion Despite improved social-economic performance by the less developed countries, the gap between these countries and the developed countries remains to be wide. For example, their marginalization in the minuscule shares in the global FDI flows and world trade can be realized. For these countries to move forward, they should be in the forefront in eradication of poverty, transforming the economy and address sustainable development. The government should also utilize the available resources and enhance its accountability for the revenue collected. The government should also create conducive environment for both local and foreign investors. In addition, more needs to be done to set up e-government, foster multi-sectoral approach to development and support infrastructures. Therefore, the development of a country lies on the resources available and the governance. Reference Baffoe-Bonnie, J., & Khayum, M. (2003). Contemporary economic issues in developing countries. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Dine, J., & Fagan, A. (2006). Human Rights and Capitalism: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Globalization. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Eshag, E. (1983). Fiscal and monetary policies and problems in developing countries. Cambridge u.a: Cambridge Univ. Pr. Kamel, S. (2006). Electronic business in developing countries: Opportunities and challenges. Hershey, Pa. [u.a.: Idea Group Publ. Rahnama-Moghadam, M., Samavati, H., & Dilts, D. A. (1995). Doing business in less developed countries: Financial opportunities and risks. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books Read More