Late Development And The Challenges Facing Late Developers Economics Essay

Late Development And The Challenges Facing Late Developers Economics Essay On the world stage, the list of the wealthiest countries has been dominated by European nations for the past six hundred years. Mid-last century a shift occurred that has seen the emergence of Asian countries growing at rapid rates. The surge was led by Japan and was quickly followed by those now known as the Asian Tigers. What problems did these countries overcome to grow so quickly while at the same time so many other nations are trapped in the quagmire of poverty and debt? Additionally, what challenges do the countries attempting development later than others face if they wish to emulate the Asian Tigers? This essay will briefly explain the problem of late development before outlining the challenges faced by late developers. Broadly speaking development implies wish to shift from an undesired state to a more desirable state; in this case a movement away from the situation of inequality and poverty to that of more equality and less poverty. Inequality in terms of social, cultural, economic and political needs is widespread in the world, not just between nations but within populations of nations. Such inequality leads to the poverty experienced by the populations of the undeveloped and developing nations of the word, causing millions of needless deaths every year around the world. Before any explanation or hypothesis regarding development of nations can be carried out, the term poverty requires discussion. An orthodox view of poverty is not having sufficient money to buy food and other basic material needs  [1]  . An alternate view of poverty is where people are not able to meet their own material and non-material needs through their own effort. The subtle difference between the two definitions will be expanded later in this essay. Additional to discussing poverty, the term development needs discussion. To determine the status of a nation as developed, developing or underdeveloped requires the use of a metric, criterion or standard of some kind. Which form of measure is hotly debated and is a very contentious issue. Different measures that can be used are national gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, level of economic industrialization or the Human Development Index (HDI) to name a few and the selection of which one determines the rankings of nations. During the Cold War, the terms First, Second and Third World were used to describe the USA, Soviet and non-aligned blocks of countries. The term Third World became synonymous with underdeveloped and developing countries and to this day is misused to describe these countries. THE PROBLEMS OF LATE DEVELOPMENT The same problems face developing countries, regardless of the metric used to measure a nations development ranking. The prime problem facing developing nation is their late start compared to the more advanced industrialised countries that are generally accepted as being developed. Late development precludes nations from using the first mover advantages of economies of scale, positive network effects and the ease of sourcing investment funds  [2]  . Nations that get a head start in an industry have the ability to compete evenly against other nations starting at the same time in that industry. As capacity builds, the high costs of initial production, research and development, and low levels of output alter because of innovation and improvement leading to more effective and cheaper production methods, enhanced products, and higher levels of output. All these factors enable the distribution of fixed costs, such as production and transport costs, across the greater output, thus lowering the final cost of an item. These economies of scale enable the first mover to produce a product at a lower cost than a late developer, which in turn, allows the first mover to either undercut late starters or make more profit when selling at the same price  [3]  . Late developers hence need to find ways around the economies of scale factor such as using cheaper local labour for production, leveraging off any local raw materials or new areas to in novate. A good example of the economies of scale at work is the early motor vehicle industry. The Ford Motor Company is generally credited with the first use of a production line type manufacturing method in the automotive industry that enabled Ford to mass produce cars at prices much cheaper than the completion. Follower companies adopted the same technology, but not after Ford had gained a significant market share in North America and enabled the company to create a world-wide manufacturing base that was not seriously challenged for over half a century  [4]  . Starting an industry or sector of technology first attracts people and firms into the area where that technology is found, thus creating a centre of excellence in terms of equipment and personnel. The network effect  [5]   of a centre of excellence also adds to the economics of scale effects, as raw material supplies are only shipped into one area and conversely distribution centres can also be centralised. Additionally, distributed manufacturing within such a network is sped up and costs reduced due to close proximity, thus reducing costs and time effects. Late starters wishing to build their own competing centres of excellence face the obstacle of attracting expertise away from established areas. The inability to match wage rates and favourable conditions of established centres of excellence need to be countered at the new location, often by government subsidies, low tax rates and favourable trade conditions. Well known examples of successful secondary centres of excellence are the Japanese automotive industry following America and the New Zealand and Australian movie production centres following in the footsteps of Hollywood and Bollywood. The effects of globalisation and easy flow of information and technology are continuing to reduce the need to physically concentrate people and industry; hence the network effects are being reduced for the first mover. Sourcing investment funds for any new industry is a challenge, yet sourcing funds to compete against a developed nations established industry is even more difficult. The first mover nations have the advantage of having the first opportunity to attract investment capital, whether internal to the nation or externally via foreign investment. Regardless of the source of investment funds, late developers seeking funding must compete against established industries with proven return rates and known levels of risk, therefore pay higher interest rates. These higher interest rates further erode the profit margin of the late developer and make their products less attractive on price and company success rates lower. THE CHALLENGES FACING LATE DEVELOPERS In light of the problems face by late developers, why is striving for development so important? United Nations former Secretary General Kofi Annan described a developed country as one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment implying that developing and undeveloped countries citizens do not enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment. The orthodox, or liberalist, view of development describes its purpose as the requirement to move from a subsistence economy to an industrialised and modern economy  [6]  . Compare such a view with the alternate or more socialist view, where the purpose of development is to create human well-being through sustainable societies in social, cultural, economic and political means. These two viewpoints differ significantly but suffer from overlapping sets of challenges that need addressing to successfully develop a nation. The orthodox view of development identifies a strong trend between development and industrialisation. This view sees industrialisation as a better path for growth of a nation than agriculture or resource extraction as there is a greater potential for capital accumulation. This growth is due to the higher productivity achieved with successful industrialisation, which in turn leads to better wage growth, better skill and expertise growth, and the unlimited potential of the free-market. Such an approach generally requires a top-down governmental control process, using external capital investment to attract technology and stimulate private sector growth. Using industrialisation as the pathway to growth and development has the disadvantages of exposing a nation to both the good and bad aspects of globalisation. Fast and freer information flows, financial deregulation, access to technology and exposure to the global villages cultural influence can have positive and negative effects on both markets and populations. The effects of global financial institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and open finance markets can lead to a nations own monetary policy having little control on capital availability and exchange rate control; a critical factor in ensuring a stable economy  [7]  . Ostensibly, small and vulnerable nations can be either manipulated easily or must flow global trends with few ability to cause self-determination in the globalised finance market. The alternate view of development takes a different approach to development. In this view the final target of development is not necessarily parity with developed nations using convention metrics, such as GDP per capita, but a more holistic vision of a journey towards self-sufficiency, self-reliance and unity rather than outright fiscal wealth. In this respect, development is more a process rather than a target. The fundamental difference to the orthodox view is that the alternate view is a bottom up process and involves the respect of nature and culture, political inclusion of marginalised groups and local control of resources and investments. Comparing the two very different approaches identifies that there are challenges to both, including some common challenges. The orthodox view has the advantage of potentially providing greater growth rates and hence reducing inequality between nations, but often at the cost of higher internal inequality as the gap between the richest and poorest within a nation widens. This effect is sometimes called the unavoidable consequence of economic growth  [8]  . Opponents to the orthodox view also content that sustained development is only viable through further growth within a global free-market, which benefits the suppliers of the initial capital more than the nation seeking development  [9]  . Conversely, the alternate view of development suffers the potential problem of creating slower growth rates than embracing outright industrialism and its side effects. This approach also requires assistance from external to the country, but more often in the form of education and material re sources, rather than direct capital injection. The Chipko movement in India and the rubber tapper movement in the Amazon are examples of successful grass roots versions of the alternate development methods  [10]  . Both are relatively small scale and limited to regions and ethnicities rather than whole nations. Both approaches suffer from the challenges of overcoming education, literacy, environmental and health issues which all slow rates of growth. Additionally, corruption is seen as a huge obstacle to developing nations, specifically in autocratic and flawed democracies. Later in the development cycle nations that grow strongly need to be able to keep their exchange rate competitive by neutralize the tendency of the exchange rate to head toward overvaluation  [11]  . This problem is related to the Dutch disease  [12]  , the policy of growth with foreign savings, and to exchange rate populism. CONCLUSION In summary, it can be seen that development of countries is import to reduce the gap between the most advanced nations in the world and the least. Development leads to a reduction in suffering by people who cannot meet their own needs through their own means, while at the same time enabling societies to become sustainable in economic, political and cultural terms. The process of development is slow and the challenges are many. Overcoming the problems of being a late developer is complex and difficult, but demonstrably possible as the Asian Tiger nations and other Newly Industrialised Countries have proven. Striving to industrialise by increasing exports has been a successful development strategy for the Asian Tiger countries, but not all nations have been successful using this technique. Local political, geographical and geological environments can both help and hinder development, as can the effects of globalisation by open both market and financial flows. While the history of development success shows that the crux of change is primarily national and local, such change now takes place in an increasingly globalised world of ever tighter political, economic, and cultural ties. The problems faced by developing nations are many and no universal answer or solution exists. Each nation that wishes to develop needs to create a development plan unique to their nation, based on their specific politics, cultures, resources, skills and geography. Only then can real and sustains development occur. Word Count = 2050

Buchi Emechetas The Joys of Motherhood and Wole Soyinkas Death and th

Colonial Life in Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood and Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman Homi Bhaba writes that "colonial mimicry is the desire for a reformed, recognizable Other, as a subject of a difference that is almost the same, but not quite" (86). The colonizer wants and needs the colonized to be similar to himself, but not the same. If the native continues to behave in his traditional ways, he brings no economic gain to the colonizer. But, if the colonized changes too much and is found to be exactly the same as the colonizer, the colonizer is left with no argument for his supremacy. As Bhaba puts it, "in order to be effective, mimicry must continually produce its slippage, its excess, its difference" (86). These slippages, excesses, and differences are brought to the modern, colonized world by the natives in all aspects of their existences, but especially in their beliefs on religion and family. The characters in Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman and Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood serve as good examples of this ambivalence that colonialism dep ends on. Native characters living in the colonial world bring their own traditions and beliefs with them which prevent them from ever fully becoming the same as the white man. Religious beliefs are at the core of what makes up a person. Even when an individual travels from one world to another, such as from traditional life to colonial life, his religion rarely leaves him entirely. Religious beliefs help keep the colonized from fully emulating the colonizer. In Death and the King's Horseman, the appearance of the white Mr. and Mrs. Pilkings in ceremonial death masks elicits a fear in both the Muslim Amusa and the Christian Joseph, proving ... ... ambivalence by being required to both be a modern, colonial man and to respect his traditional family beliefs. The incomplete mimicry that the characters in The Joys of Motherhood and Death and the King's Horseman have to face creates many problems for them. They are forced to face conflicting religious beliefs, poverty, and even untimely death because they are not able to leave all their traditions behind them when they move to the colonial world. The natives' traditions, mixed with new ideas from the colonialist's world, create a structure of ambivalence that traps the colonized and prevents him from ever becoming the same as the colonizer. Works Cited Bhaba, Homi. The Location of Culture. Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1994. Soyinka, Wole. Death and the King's Horseman. New York: Norton, 2003. Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood and Wole Soyinka's Death and th Colonial Life in Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood and Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman Homi Bhaba writes that "colonial mimicry is the desire for a reformed, recognizable Other, as a subject of a difference that is almost the same, but not quite" (86). The colonizer wants and needs the colonized to be similar to himself, but not the same. If the native continues to behave in his traditional ways, he brings no economic gain to the colonizer. But, if the colonized changes too much and is found to be exactly the same as the colonizer, the colonizer is left with no argument for his supremacy. As Bhaba puts it, "in order to be effective, mimicry must continually produce its slippage, its excess, its difference" (86). These slippages, excesses, and differences are brought to the modern, colonized world by the natives in all aspects of their existences, but especially in their beliefs on religion and family. The characters in Wole Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman and Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood serve as good examples of this ambivalence that colonialism dep ends on. Native characters living in the colonial world bring their own traditions and beliefs with them which prevent them from ever fully becoming the same as the white man. Religious beliefs are at the core of what makes up a person. Even when an individual travels from one world to another, such as from traditional life to colonial life, his religion rarely leaves him entirely. Religious beliefs help keep the colonized from fully emulating the colonizer. In Death and the King's Horseman, the appearance of the white Mr. and Mrs. Pilkings in ceremonial death masks elicits a fear in both the Muslim Amusa and the Christian Joseph, proving ... ... ambivalence by being required to both be a modern, colonial man and to respect his traditional family beliefs. The incomplete mimicry that the characters in The Joys of Motherhood and Death and the King's Horseman have to face creates many problems for them. They are forced to face conflicting religious beliefs, poverty, and even untimely death because they are not able to leave all their traditions behind them when they move to the colonial world. The natives' traditions, mixed with new ideas from the colonialist's world, create a structure of ambivalence that traps the colonized and prevents him from ever becoming the same as the colonizer. Works Cited Bhaba, Homi. The Location of Culture. Emecheta, Buchi. The Joys of Motherhood. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1994. Soyinka, Wole. Death and the King's Horseman. New York: Norton, 2003.

Early memories

â€Å"Hi It's me†. That's what you always said when you used to call me. The velvet angelic voice that broke the silence of those lonely winter days. Your voice was like a disguise, an invisible coat which disguised many mysteries that collaged into one big jigsaw, which could have simply be defined as your lifestory. Although I had been knowing you for a long time, I had never managed to aquaint with your deepest feelings. Not that I blame you, or me for that; there is an old Chilean saying that states that it takes a lifetime to understand a woman, and another lifetime to learn how to deal with her. Like read about memories? Read also  Flashbulb memory! As I stand in my bedroom staring at the surroundings, I remember the past times in which our relationship was fluorishing, when one of your smiles would irrigate my empty mind with happiness and comfort. I had been spending a prolonged period of time In Latin America, visiting my family. I was anxious to see my relatives again, and apart from occasional spalshes of sadness and tears sheded in states of semi-unconciousness you didn't seem to resent much from my departure. It were those frigid sides of your personality that allowed you to conduct the type of life in which you lived through everyday. This was probably the reason why we seemed to get along so well with eachother, we mixed together with the same harmony in which the water from the sea and the sand from the bankshore mix: completely different creatures, native of completely different worlds fitting together like a key in a lock. It was a hot damp summer, the high temperatures of the tropics blurred my mind, just like the fumes coming from the exausts of the old american chevrolets blurred the intense blue sky that gave a magic atmosphere to this remote part of the globe. I would wake up around 7. 30 to start my morning job. I would distribute rations of bread to the neighbouring houses. By that time the empty streets would already be bursting with life. The distant shouts of the vendors in the market place, overcasted by the sound of the jarring traffic, would almost give a rythm to the fast and precise movements of the indigenous woman weaving colourful blankets made of Alpaca skin. I would grab something to eat, and then I would rapidly descend the stairs three steps at a time, as the small truck sounded the clackson. Roberto was already waiting for me at the back of the truck, he was wearing a brand new Guayabera which he said, had been a present for his birthday. When we finished distributing the bread, we would go collect fruit from the jungle, which was a delimiting territory of the region of Pinar Del Rio, feeling like grown ups with our machetes linked to the back of our belt. As the small truck accelerates, I gradually see my little neighbourhood with its palms and markets disappear in the distance, like a dye when mixed with water. The empty and recently built road, melts in with the sea and the surroundings giving the passengers on the vehicle the impression of living in a surrealist painting. Small drops of sweat fulgidly run down my forehead; as a gust of wind blows away a jasmine flower I had picked up on the way, it brings to my mind a wave of memories just like the river brings the detritus to the sea. I lean against a flower bag in the corner of the back of the truck, and you come to my mind again. It was the first few days, I had been guest to this new and alien country. Everything I saw I found peculiar, from the side on which english people drove on the road, to their unusual tradition of having dinner at five o'clock. As I stared in the eyes of these local people, I could only see ice and a melancholycal emptyness, which I wondered if was their nature or their response to my arrival. The first time I saw you I was expecting the same frigid and senseless look, and I was surprised as I noticed none of these elements were present in your look. This was probably the only reason I was so attracted to you initially. Your openiness, and the energy which bursted from the pores of your skin embraced me in a way it was impossible for me to escape, so I decided to surrender and let me carry away by this flow of positive sensation. I had noticed in you a pinch of shyness which arised only in specific situations and under the tension of certain questions. I was never really sure if you behaved like that because you were curious of me and you were trying to get to know me and my environment, just like a laboratory scientist is curious of the behaviour of their guinea-pig to evaluate their intelectual potential, or because you felt sorry for me and the situation I was imprisoned in. As the the days and months went by, our friendship grew stronger, but as all the good things came along so did the bad things. The cultural differences between us in obstacled our relationship in an indirect way. We could not see eachother very often, but this abstinence as well as the suspense which grew in between the times we didn't see eachother, added flavour too our relationship as well as avoiding it from losing originality. Though at times it was need to see you was immense and hard to revoke, especially when we did not have a chance too meet, it made our meetings more special in a way that I was sure I was not going to experience with any other person. Between the smiles and tears of which gave colour to this past year, I barely had time to reflect upon how sometime this will have to end. Now in between dream and reality, this idea comes back to me bringing along sadness and desolation. I wonder if you are thinking the same thing in this times I was out of the country. Out of nowhere a hand taps me on the shoulder and a voice says: † If you truly believe in a moment it will last forever. † I immediately open my eyes, and see Roberto smiling at me. Apparently I had been talking during my dream, and he had heard everything I had said. His arm approaches me again, and I notice the contrast of his brown skin being burned from the sun with the white shirt he was wearing. We had arrived to the jungle; one last time my thoughts and doubts rush into my mind, before our little group of kids start working on the first row of palms delimiting the known world from the mysterious and intriguing jungle.

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