What is interesting in Development economics is it shows how economic analysis can help us understand the big issues of this century – poverty and inequality, globalisation and trade, and the contrasting
experience of success and failure in the economies of different regions of the world.
Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural change but also on improving the potential for the mass of the population, for example, through health, education and workplace conditions, whether through public or private channels.
Development economics attempts to explore some of the economic challenges, peculiar to some of the poorest countries, that includes:-
- to what extent does rapid population growth help or hinder development?
- is it necessary for economies to go through a process of structural transformation – and how does this take place?
- what is the role of education and health care provision in contributing to the process of development?
- how important is it for countries to engage in international trade in the context of a globalising
economy? - how can less-developed countries achieve sustainable development?
- what effect has the HIV/AIDS epidemic had on economic and human development?
Development economics seeks to determine how poor countries can be transformed into prosperous ones. Strategies for transforming a developing economy tend to be unique because the social and political background of countries can vary dramatically. Some prominent development economists include Jeffrey Sachs, Nobel Laureates Simon Kuznets, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz. In development economics, students and professionals create theories and methods that guide practitioners in determining practices and policies that can be used and implemented on the domestic and/or international level. Development economics can draw on theory that you may have encountered in both micro and macro modules and combine this with evidence from poorer countries.
