NEW CPP The Paradoxes of Development

The Paradoxes of Development 11 unread reply.11 reply. In 2016, only about 28 million Indians owned smartphones, out of a population of more than 1.3 billion. A company called JIO changed all of that; within 18 months of starting up in 2016, it had 400 million subscribers, offering them cheap data and free phone calls. In 2018, it offered a $20 Android handset loaded with Google-owned apps, such as YouTube, included for free. With that one product, Indians began to consume more data than all Americans combined. It has been a boon not only for Indians but for global tech giants too. In 2023, it is estimated that there are one billion smartphones in use (Statistica). Facebook’s WhatsApp now operates in all 23 official Indian languages and has 400 million users of its own, making India WhatsApp’s biggest market. To other emerging countries with high-priced Internet, India now offers a prime example of the accelerator effect cheap data can have on businesses, education, and rural development. Broadband connections have skyrocketed. As mentioned in this week’s module, developing countries do not need to invest the same amount of money Western, Industrialized, and developed countries did in certain infrastructures, whether they be in communications (telephone lines for example, they can put-up cell towers), health (they can produce and use generic drugs at a much lower cost), or education (which can be computer and satellite driven), or even military spending. But they do need the capital to invest, particularly in energy generation and transportation, and that's where foreign policy comes in, as in China's new Silk Road, for example, wherein both the investing country and the countries being invested benefit. If they have the needed capital, they can invest in renewable energy, small to large scale. Costa Rica, for example, is 100% energy self-sufficient, or they can take the same coal, oil, and gas route as ours. Considering what we learned in last week’s module, they may not want to but may not have a choice. One aspect of globalization that hasn't been discussed is lending (and U.S. dominance). When money comes through the IMF and the World Bank, "democratic and free-market reforms" come with it. The strongest emerging markets today don't need Western banks anymore. Brazil's Development Bank, the China Development Bank, and other regional lending institutions surpass the World Bank today (Ian Bremmer: America's Uneasy Path Abroad, TIME Dec 2014)Links to an external site.. For small, isolated economies to rise out of poverty, they must cease to be small (by forming federations and increasing their basic scale) or cease to be isolated (by integrating into the global markets). Both can be difficult to achieve without proper leadership internally and help from the outside that is not just given to benefit the giver. Economic growth depends on the move from low to high productivity. This can be a mix of manufacturing and service industries. This increase in productivity depends on two factors: economies of scale and specialization. Successful cities have high connectivity, conveniently linking workers with a company, companies to other companies, and companies to their customers. High connectivity depends on achieving the right level of density and transport infrastructure. Industrialization is a slow process, hampered by the need to concurrently resolve the challenges of scale and interdependence, as well as the challenge of attracting investments. Your task this week is to examine “how can poor societies become prosperous and overcome obstacles to do so.” Think in terms of what these countries need to invest in, how they can attract investment (and what sort), and what type of government they might need to accomplish growth. Inequality is not something the market is going to fix by itself. Individual governments need to address it through the tax system, together with companies and individuals. When considering leadership, democratization opens the way for a redistribution of wealth (from the elite) through mass education and reduces inequality by giving the populace a voice. Many developing countries, however, are still going through a phase of oligarchy where elites control much of the wealth. This is a group project in the discussion forum on the subject! First, pick a developing country or region and throw out some ideas in answer to the question. This week’s module! Explore the Human Deficiency Index (HDI)Links to an external site. | What country might you want not to live in versus one you would considering what the HDI measures? The Gini coefficient Links to an external site. is a commonly used measure of income inequality that condenses the entire income distribution for a country into a single number between 0 and 1: Simply put, the higher the Gini coefficient, the greater the gap between the incomes of a country's richest and poorest people.