Chapter 14 : Development

Abstract

Different societies may define development diversely at various points in their history. In conventional economics it usually means the size of a country's or region's economy. It is usually measured by calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP is the market value of all goods and services produced in a country over a specific period of time (usually a calendar year). Another calculation is the Gross National Product (GNP). The GNP would include the GOP plus the value of a country's investments abroad, but minus the income of those nationals living abroad (Macionis & Plummer, 2005, p. 218). However taking development simply as something that is economic and numerical cannot give a complete picture of what development means. At best GDP or GNP can tell us how big an economy of a country is. However, these measurements do not show how evenly wealth is distributed. It is possible for a "rich" country to have large pockets of poverty, while a "poor" country has relatively low poverty levels. For example, in national income and median household income the United States scores very highly even compared to rich countries. However the USA has relatively high levels of poverty and income inequality (Woolf & Aron, 2013). A high personal income could however enable individuals to purchase goods and services and spend a smaller percentage of their income on food, shelter and other items essential to living. In poor countries there is less spending by individuals on non-essential items. Therefore it is more difficult for countries to achieve economic growth as consumer spending is restricted to the most basic goods and services. Thus, although Malta is listed amongst the most developed nations (United Nations, 2014), one must also look at various factors in assessing development and a country's well-being.