Economics Ch. 1: Development

EXERCISES

1. Development of a country can generally be determined by

    (i) its per capita income

    (ii) its average literacy level

    (iii) health status of its people

    (iv) all of the above

Answer: (iv) all of the above

2. Which of the following neighbouring  countries hos better performance interms of human development than India?

    (i) Bangladesh

    (ii) Sri Lanka

    (iii) Nepal

    (iv) Pakistan    

Answer: (ii) Sri Lanka

3. Assume there are four families in a country. The average per capita income of these families is Rs 5000. If the income of three families is Rs 4000, Rs 7000 and Rs 3000 respectively, what is the income of the fourth family?

    (i) Rs 7500

    (ii) Rs 3000

    (iii) Rs 2000

    (iv) Rs 6000

Answer: (iv) Rs 6000

4. What is the main criterion used by World Bank in classifying different countries? What are the limitations of this criterion, if any?

Answer: Per Capita Income is the main criterion used by World Bank in classifying different countries.

Income is not the only factor to inprove the quality of life. There are many factors which affect the development, example, infant mortality rate, literacy rate, health care, etc. It also hides disparities, it does not tell how income is distributes among people.

5. In what respect is the criterion used by the UNDP for measuring development different from the one used by the World Bank?

Answer: UNDP uses many other factors which affect the quality of life like infant mortality rate, health care, literacy level, school enrollment etc. So, the UNDP looks at those factors which help in improving the quality of life and help in making citizen more productive.

6. Why do we use averages? Are there any limitations to their use? Illustrate with your own examples related to development.

Answer: Whenever we need to analyse a big amount, it is difficult to analyse individual data. Hence, it is important to use averages in such cases. Averages have some limitations. Average figure hides disparities. For example, let us consider two countries, A and B with bot having 5 citizens.

	I	II	III	IV	V	Average
Country:A	9500	10500	9800	10000	10200	10000
Country:B	500	500	500	500	48000	10000

Even though both the countries have identical average income, country A is preferred because it has more equitable distribution. Hence, while average income is useful for comparison it does not tell us how this income is distributed among people.

7. Kerala, with lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab. Hence, per capita income is not a useful criterion at all and should not be used to compare states. Do you agree? Discuss.

Answer: No, I do not agree with the statement that per capita income is not a useful criterion at all. Kerala, with a lower per capita income has a better human development ranking than Punjab because of factors like health, education, less infant mortality, etc. Per capita is also very important criterion.

8. Find out the present sources of energy that are used by the people in India. What could be the other possibilities fifty years from now?

Answer: Firewood, Coal,  LPG, Thermal Electricity, Diesel, Petrol, etc are used as source of energy  by the people of India. Gobar gas, Solar Energy for cooking and generating electricity, Wind energy, Tidal Energy, Batteries, etc. can be other possibilities fifty years from now.

9. Why is the issue of sustainability important for development?

Answer: Development does not only mean securing a better present, but it also means securing a better future for the generations to come. If we use the resources in the same way we are using now, it will soon exhaust.  Hence, sustainability is an important aspect of development.

10. “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person”. How is this statement relevant to the discussion of development? Discuss.

Answer: This statement implies that human beings are overusing the natural resources of Earth in the name of development. Development is not sustainable. Earth provides enough resources to satisfy the needs of every person but people are becoming greedy. We are exploiting resources for our pleasure by activities like deforestation, hunting, polluting the environment, etc.

11. List a few examples of environmental degradation that you may have observed around you.

Answer: The air quality is bad, many people in my neighbourhood suffer from respiratory problem. The river which flows from the city, looks like a drain. There are very less trees in my city. Wastes are thrown here and there. All of this shows the level of environmental degradation.