Preview - Economic Development: A Global Challenge

Economic Development: A Global Challenge

Purchase Options

Title Information

Tell a Friend

DVD (Chaptered)

$169.95

DVD + 3-Year Streaming

$254.93

3-Year Streaming

$169.95

Economic Development: A Global Challenge (34:00)

Item# 34994
©2007

How is the economic progress of a country or a region measured? What causes underdevelopment and poverty? Will the struggling nations of the world ever “catch up” with the wealthy ones? This program studies various methods for calculating economic potential, growth, and stagnation in the context of today’s global environment. Introducing the three main determinants of income and expansion—physical capital, human capital, and technology—the video examines geographic, historical, and political reasons behind underdevelopment, especially the vestigial effects of colonialism and the population disparities that exist between rich and poor nations. Production structure, credit markets, income inequality within a country, and the concept of the dual economy are all explored in detail. The success of micro credit systems highlights the possibility of development in even the most disadvantaged societies. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (36 minutes)

Segments in this Video - (7)

1. Measuring Economic Development (04:40)

Available for Free Preview

Attributes of a high living standard include long life expectancy, low child mortality, no poverty, access to clean drinking water, basic health care, and education. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one tool for assessing economic development; the United N

2. Determinants of Income and Growth (07:40)

When considering economic development it is important to distinguish between the present level of per capita income and its growth rate over time. A country's productivity determines its income and growth levels; productivity is determined by physical cap

3. Causes of Underdevelopment (08:51)

Geography, climate, proximity to large economic centers, social and political frameworks, legacies of colonialism, and corrupt leaders all can contribute to underdevelopment. Some claim that foreign capital investment is a new form of imperialism. The dis

4. Income Inequality Within Countries (04:21)

Poor countries tend to exhibit greater income inequality than rich countries, but extremely poor countries actually have more equal income distribution than less poor countries. The Kuznets curve shows the relationship between inequality and income; inequ

5. Production Structure and the "Dual Economy" (04:01)

As a country transitions from agriculture to industry two economies may emerge. In such a "dual economy" the rural agricultural economy remains at the old level of development while the urban industrial economy exhibits modernizations seen in more develop

6. Credit Markets (02:57)

Less developed countries usually lack well functioning financial systems and domestic credit markets. Non-profit organizations have had some success in providing micro-credit to poor people in developing countries; the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is the mo

7. A Poverty-Free World (01:24)

Under ideal circumstances investments in physical capital, human capital, and technology will produce income growth. Geography, history, population, inequality, dual economies, inadequate credit markets, and other factors contribute to the persistence of