gdp overallo gdp per capitao poverty rateo unemployment rateo gini coefficient H u m a n i t i e s

In the last module we learned that global poverty has been drastically reduced in the past few decades. This is largely due to global development. In this module, we consider questions such as: What exactly is development? Is development a good thing for everyone? Or are there winners and losers in global development? The relationship between development and social welfare is complicated. In this module we will look at how development affects social welfare.

3.1: Explain the history and theory of development.

3.2: Describe the impact of development on social welfare.

3.3: Analyze the social indicators of development.

3.4: Impact of development on social welfare?

This module has for you: 1 audio lecture to enjoy, 2 book chapters to read, 4 websites to explore and 1 video to watch

First, enjoy this PowerPoint audio: Next, read a book chapter also written by my mentor, Jim. It is pretty long. I want you to concentrate your reading on pages 19-34 (read those 15 pages closely, you can skim the rest). Those pages are in the second half of the chapter, and it is where the reading discusses 5 different types of development. The rest of the chapter is a review of the material on poverty from last week.

Hall, A. & Midgley, J. (2004). Poverty, inequality, and development: The challenge for social policy

. In Social policy for development (p.44-86). London: Sage Publications.

Then, read this highly entertaining chapter by a renegade economist, Bill Easterly. It is short and it goes fast because it is not written in an academic style!

Easterly, W. (2006). Homegrown development

. In The white man’s burden: Why the West’s efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good (pp. 341-366). London: The Penguin Press.

Next, explore these two websites which contain a lot of data on global development.

The first one contains global data on almost anything you can think of: Our World in Data (Links to an external site.)

The second one is a link to an annual report put out by the UN that measures each country’s Human Development Index, and then ranks the world from highest to lowest. You don’t have to read the whole report – just browse around to get a feel for it. The homepage has very brief descriptions and graphics of each chapter: Human Development Report (Links to an external site.)

Then, look up your country on these websites so you can begin building your Profile of Social Welfare. Look up your selected country’s social indicators (for the presentation) here:

Country Human Development Indicators (Links to an external site.) http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries

World Bank data on countries (Links to an external site.)

https://data.worldbank.org/country

Finally, watch this highly entertaining TED Talk by Hans Rosling (19 minutes) who uses innovative graphics to explain what is happening in the world in terms of development and social welfare:

Country Human Development Indicators (Links to an external site.) and World Bank data on countries (Links to an external site.)) and then continue searching on your own. (You may want to make yourself a table to keep track of the social statistics that you find, which you can use in your Profile).

Instructions

Include (at least) the:

o GDP overall

o GDP per capita

o Poverty rate

o Unemployment rate

o GINI coefficient for the inequality rate

o Any other social indicator that you think is interesting and relevant…

450-500 words total for the journal

Grading rubric for self-review

Amount of information

-All assignment prompts are addressed with additional relevant information added.

Quality of Information

-All of the evidence and examples are specific, relevant and explanations are given that show how each piece of evidence supports the author’s position

Mechanics

-Author makes no errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.