ECONOMIC TRANSITION - GLOBAL INEQUALITIES

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  • Created by: Frances
  • Created on: 01-10-17 09:12

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING

  •  Economic and social well-being is not spread evenly across the globe. People in some places are richer and have a better quality of life than people in other places
  • Terminology is constantly changing. In the 1950s, poorer countries were referred to as undeveloped but this soon changed to under-developed and then developing countries.
  •  In the late 1970s the UN commissioned the BRANDT REPORT which divided countries into LEDCs and MEDCs.
  • Currently the World Bank classification of LICs, MICs and HICs are used
  • Emphasis is now being put on the development gap(the difference in sicial and economic well-being between the various countries of the world) and what can be done to reduce it.
  • In 2000, the UN set up the Millennium Development Goals to close the gap
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

1.       No poverty

2.       No hunger

3.       Good health

4.       Quality education

5.       Gender equality

6.       Clean water and sanitation

7.       Renewable energy

8.       Good jobs and economic growth

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

1.       Innovation and infrastructure

2.       Reduced inequalities

3.       Sustainable cities and communities

4.       Responsible consumption

5.       Climate action

6.       Life below water

7.       Life on land

8.       Peace and justice

9.       Partnerships for the goals

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PHYSICAL CAUSES OF GLOBAL INEQUALITIES

  • LOCATION; landlocked countries have generally developed more slowly than countries with a coastline. This is because landlocked countries are unable to engage in international trade. Trading is an important way of increasing wealth.
  • SIZE; small countries have developed more slowly than large countries. This is related to the availability of resources and size of the population. Big countries are more likely to have a wide range of natural resources and a large population which provides workers and a market. Although, Singapore is a small island nation on the Equator but its economic growth has been rapid and it is now an HIC.
  • NATURAL HAZARDS; a country which experiences frequent natural hazards is less likely to develop (like Haiti) than a country which has few hazards causing death, damage and economic disruption. Although Japan suffers from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and flash floods but it is one of the leading economies in the world
  • CLIMATE AND SOIL; tropical countries have developed more slowly than temperate countries. Tropical soils tend to infertile and reduce agricultural production. Tropical countries suffer from high level of pests and diseases, which limit production growth and agricultural production.
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CAUSES OF GLOBAL INEQUALITIES

  • STABLE GOVERNMENT; many developed countries/HICs believe that their democratic political system has stimulated economic growth. The government is meant to answer to the will of voters. Many voters want better standards of living and the governments must try to provide these things. Where governments fail to provide things wanted by voters it can lead to civil unrest. Unrest can lead to the destruction of the country's infrastructure and will delay or revserse economic and social progress. The key political factors which stimulate economic growth are:

1.THE MAINTAINACE OF LAW AND ORDER; allowing people to make money and keep their property secure

2.LACK OF CORRUPTION; encourages investment because people and companies know that their money will not be taken by corrupt officials

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CAUSES OF GLOBAL INEQUALITIES - ECONOMIC POLICIES

  • Low levels of taxation encourage economic growth. Governments need to gather taxes to pay for a developing infrastructure, but if too much is taken in tax it reduces the ability of individuals and companies to invest in the developments that are the driving force of a modern market economy.
  • Open economies that encourage inward investment have grown faster than closed economies. This emphasises the role of trade in national development. LICs have traditionally suffered from unfair trading practices and some of them have decided to adopt closed, protectionist policies as a result
  • When groups of countries work together (the EU or NAFA), their collective development is often faster than it would have been if the countries had worked alone. LICs and MICs have sometimes found it hard to join these groups or have found that their products are disadvantaged because of the import taxes and tariffs that these groups adopt
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CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL INEQUALITIES - ECONOMIC

  •  Poverty- 20% of the world’s population lives on less than $1 a day
  • The government can’t raise taxes from an impoverished population, leading to an inability to develop the infrastructure of the country.
  • Hunger- people frequently lack the ability to pay for food or to grow enough of their own. They don’t have the money to improve their farms.
  • It is difficult to attract inward investment when the national infrastructure is inadequate and the population are poorly educated.
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CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL INEQUALITIES - SOCIAL

  • Education - 800 million people in MICs and LICs cannot read and write. this limits their chances of getting well paid jobs.
  • Gender - lack of education for girls and high ferlility rates mean that womwn have fewer chances to do well in life than men.
  • Health - lack of clean water and basic sanitation means that preventable diseases are common in MICs and LICs. Infant mortality rates are very high as a consequence
  • Housing - people in MICs and LICs live in very basic housing, either in their rural viliages or in shanty towns if they are forced to move to the towns and cities.
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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBAL INEQUALITIES

  • Population pressure and poor farmimg techniques often lead to environmental degregation
  • LICs and MICs need to use all of their resources to develop their economy. Deforestation and environmental damage due to mining are just two of the ways that the exploitation of natural resources can lead to impacts on the natural environment
  • LICs and MICs are more vulnerable to the impacts of environmental hazards and are less resilient, meaninig it takes them longer to recover from the impacts of cyclones, earthquakes, etc.
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