Educated for what?
The importance of education is viewed from various points of view by various individuals, groups of people, and associations or organizations. Education is viewed as and is a way of empowering people by enabling them to gain the necessary skills for handling various challenges in life. The impacts of leadership without education usually have repercussions which are evident in the wrong leaderships. Some of the multi-national organizations have been active in ensuring that education is available to all people.
Education is one of the key aspects of the social, economic, and cultural development of a community as well as for a country as a whole as is evident in some Asian countries. In ensuring that education is rewarding, a proper infrastructure must be put in place.
Since the 1960s, there have been positive improvements in education enrolment in most countries. This has been attributed to the multinational organizations’ efforts and has led to the establishment of more educational institutions in different countries. Despite the rapid development in education in the past years, the GDP of various countries has not improved in the same proportion.
This has led to the undertaking of numerous researches to find out the relationship between education improvement and GDP improvement. The researches have shown that the improvement of the GDP of a country is dependent on the initial education although for a short time basis. Human capital is not directly related to growth as is evident that the returns to any job offered are mainly determined by the experience. This thus means that there must be good infrastructure and strategies for education to yield improved GDP in a country.
Due to the inability of physical and human capital to explain clearly the difference in growth in different countries, some researchers have undertaken researches and come up with models that try to explain the role they play in GDP growth. One of the models used is the Solow model by Mankiw. He illustrated the strong relationship between income and education level specifically secondary education.
The model shows that the accumulation of human and physical capital explains the differences in growth which is evident in some Asian countries. On the other hand, some of the arguments raised by the model were found to be invalid. It was found that the development of various countries was different despite them accumulating both education and physical capital. In any investment, the investor usually invests where there is a knowledgeable labor force to easily achieve the set goals.
The model uses secondary enrolment as a measure of education accumulation in the growth of a country but when different education levels are used, the results are not consistent. The skilled and unskilled wages are found to be different in different countries with working in well-developed countries being more rewarding. Education is very essential for growth if proper infrastructure and motivation are availed to the stakeholders. There should be a good policy with the government providing good incentives.
Conclusion
There has been a failure in education accumulation not producing the expected growth in many countries in the past years. The most probable reason is due to lack of proper infrastructure and incentives. There should be a balance between the skilled labor available and the physical resources available for them to make better use of their knowledge. Due to this failure, a different approach to achieving the anticipated growth ought to be adopted.
Cash for Condoms!
Population increase has posed one of the greatest challenges in the growth and development of many countries. To overcome overpopulation various methods such as the use of contraceptives for instance condoms have been improvised to regulate population growth. Fast population growth is evident in most of the developing countries. In previous years some researchers viewed the rapidly increasing population to be due availability of food. Between 1960 and 1990s there was improved food production. Various measures have been undertaken to ensure that the population decreases in number.
Despite the reduction in death rates, population growth has been reduced by the reduction in the birth rate. The increased population growth is a result of neglect on the issue of birth control in the previous years. The high rate of population growth leads to the rise of social, political, and economic problems. Challenges that are observed to stem from overpopulation include deforestation, water security, and famine. The combined international effort to reduce population growth is essential in ensuring that all the people access basic needs. The use of condoms has been observed to be the most efficient way available to control population growth.
There have been cases of children who are born but not planned for. This is mainly due to the lack of using contraceptives such as condoms. There are arguments that the prices of condoms are high and thus they are not used by some people.
The results are usually children whose cost is far much higher than that of a condom. The birth rate in various countries is usually different. The growth of the GDP of the country is found to have no interference from the population increase. Government policies can be altered to show a small relationship between GDP and population growth. The relationship between the GDP and population growth is mainly not observed because the two have been observed to increase or decline together.
Parents usually give birth to more children without taking into account the negative and positive effects they may have on society. It has been argued that a higher population may result in technological innovation, cost-sharing, and the birth of brighter minds. The population growth has been increasing over the years and has always shown positive results. The issue of population growth is best dealt with when each country is considered on its own.
In developed countries, parents usually have fewer children than in poor countries and usually, give good incentives to the development of their children. This is a better method of controlling population growth. Technological advancements have been of great help in the development of different countries.
Conclusion
The population growth rate has increased in the past years posing various challenges to regional development. This has led to the intervention of various organizations. The increase in population growth rate has been shown to have positive attributes. Most organizations have proposed the use of condoms as the best way to reducing the population growth rate. In various researches undertaken, it has been observed that development is also a very important tool in reducing the population growth rate.
The Loans That Were, the Growth That Wasn’t
Most countries have gotten into debt by borrowing funds to finance national projects. In the 1980s, there were financial crises that hit most countries all over the world. The World Bank projection on development from the funding it offered was not achieved in the early 1980s. To ensure that development was evident, the bank decided to lend some funds to the developing nations on condition that they had to aggressively engage in policy reforms.
The World Bank made some publications concerning the issue of adjustment of policies to achieve growth. The Bank lends to various countries around the world with some showing positive results from the initial stages while others took years to register developments.
The lenders and the infrastructure laid were some of the key aspects of the growth in some countries where there were no adjustments. Inflation has been persistent in many developing countries despite the funding. This was evident in Russia from 1992 to 1995 and Zambia from 1980 to 1994. In the case of Russia, many institutions such as the World Bank and Russian central bank joined hands to bring inflation to an end. Even in transition, there are so many challenges despite the funding that is awarded thus there is the necessity of obtaining the right advice.
There are some aspects which have been pointed out to affect negatively the development of a country. For example, the presence of black markets in some countries has been claimed retard the rate of development. There is a need for a strong development of policies that will make it possible for the efforts channeled towards development to succeed. Examples of countries suffering from a lack of good development policies include Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Pakistan among others.
It is advisable that when money is being lent, consideration ought to be taken on the real interest rate with countries having severely negative interest rates receiving more aid than those with positive interest rates. In the case of corruption, the funds usually do not assist the country as intended. In the 1980s and 1990s, most of the corrupt countries obtained funds from the World Bank. It is observed that the financial assistance provided is usually determined by the donor’s interest rather than the policies in place.
The type of government in place is very crucial as it determines the development growth rate of a country. The funding body may require some changes in the policies before releasing funds. In such cases, some governments usually undertake the necessary reforms while others undergo minor reforms as a cover-up. Despite the cover-ups, these funding bodies usually do not have a good mechanism for intervention. In reducing the deficit of a country in the future, there are many activities that a government can undertake. These usually avoid cascading the current problems in the future.
There are cases where there has been continued funding even when the funds given out are not put into proper use. This has happened when cutting off the funds would adversely affect the citizens of a country.
Conclusion
There are many challenges faced by many countries as they try to achieve their development objectives. Some institutions such as the World Bank and the international monetary fund have been offering funds to these countries. Some of the countries have not shown any appreciable progress in development while some have at least made some progress. Despite these challenges, the World Bank has always been dedicated to ensuring that there is economic growth in these countries by continuously funding national projects in these countries.
Forgive Us Our Debts
Some countries have received too many financial aids from the World Bank. In some cases, the authorities in the recipient countries have misused the funds through corruption deals and misappropriation. When such donated funds are misappropriated then it becomes increasingly challenging for the recipient country to generate some profits which can in turn be used to pay back the loans.
Due to the challenges imposed by these loans, the countries usually encounter challenges despite having good policies. In response to these, the World Bank usually provides debt forgiveness to highly indebted countries as a means of enabling them to develop. A meeting with the G-7 members had approved the writing off of these debts for poor countries as well as increasing their funding. There has been a campaign known as the jubilee campaign that is responsible for pressing on for the implementation of the idea.
The idea of debt forgiveness for poor countries dates back to the late 1970s. Some countries were provided with debt relief. These countries were mainly from Africa and were facing challenges in the repayment of their debts. Towards the end of the 1980s, the G-7 looked into the possible ways of relieving these countries from heavy debts that had already accumulated. The ways suggested included forgiveness and lowering of interest rates among others.
Meeting held thereafter until the year 2000 addressed the same issue with positive progress being achieved. Due to poor governance, these countries that have been relieved of their debts may find themselves again in bigger debts. In acquiring these funds, the administration has been found to use them for various unintended purposes thus creating uncertainty for the future of such countries. The low-income highly indebted countries are selling most of the assets compared to other countries thus posing a challenge for future development.
The highly indebted countries usually have debts in their budgets. The countries are found to implement policies which in the long run do not provide economic growth. In the making of the policies, they should take into account all the long term objectives and the challenges that can be encountered to be in a position to withstand the possible forces that may arise. One of the factors for the heavy debt of these countries is war.
Investors usually invest in projects that are usually rewarding and takes into account the various factors that may affect his investment. Thus there must be proper infrastructure to attract more investors. The heavily indebted countries are found to receive more funding from the World Bank than other poor countries. In the financing of the countries, the donor bodies have been found to fund some governments despite them being irresponsible in undertaking their duties. This method of financing has been referred to as the filling gap.
Conclusion
The forgiving of debts belonging to the poor and the heavily indebted countries is good as it is aimed at assisting such countries to avoid extreme suffering. In debt forgiveness, it should be ensured that the country’s management is responsible so that it can ensure that the country develops. Intensive analysis of the steps undertaken by the country should be analyzed. This helps to make precise decisions on whether the country has qualified for debt forgiveness or not. The donor should ensure that once the debt forgiveness is awarded to the countries, it does not recur. This would reduce the tendency of the country to take more lending to be forgiven in the future. Thus, the countries must establish proper development infrastructure.
Tales of Increasing Returns: Leaks, Matches, and Traps
The incentives and increasing returns in the undertaking of various activities in a country are very useful for growth. Technology properly integrated with skilled labor usually lays the platform for development. The saving carried out by people usually provides them with a chance for improvement in the future. This is mainly because in the future they would be receiving interests on whatever is saved today and thus they would not have to depend on their income.
To ensure that growth is evident, there should be a good balance in technology and labor. Technology is found to leak but is usually of benefit when it is availed to highly skilled people. This is evident in the growth of the Bangladesh textile industry. Apart from undertaking various investment projects, it is usually good to invest in knowledge. This helps one to tackle various challenges that may arise in the best way possible. The knowledge could be obtained from various stakeholders in the field. Critical analysis of the available channels makes it possible for a person to attain knowledge of any idea. One of the aspects that makes knowledge leak is because it can be used by many people simultaneously.
Knowledge investment usually has very good returns. New ideas are more rewarding than current ideas. The more the capital the higher the returns it has. This is evident even in a society where the presence of productive ideas usually results in improved welfare of the society members involved. Due to the high returns on capital, most people usually work and operate where there is more profit.
The leaking of knowledge is usually good as it ensures that the economic growth and development among different people is uniform. The flow of knowledge between people is found to be facilitated by knowledge investment and leaking. This usually avails the knowledge to numerous people and hence continuous improvements. Despite the success, there are also challenges in that there must be a minimum return on capital that should be attained for investment to be undertaken. This is one of the challenges facing poor countries. In achieving overall success, each stakeholder must undertake his/her duties properly.
This is because the failure of one may cause the total collapse of the entire project. The return of human capital is usually found to be favorable in areas with a large number of skilled labor than in those with unskilled labor. This is usually a key reason for the migration of skilled labor. Improving knowledge usually helps in the long run although in undertaking it some rewarding opportunities are foregone.
Due to the various challenges regarding the availability of skills and knowledge, most poor countries are found to be producers while developed countries are manufacturers. Skilled wages in the developed countries are found to be higher than in poor counties despite the small margin in knowledge difference. Some countries have been found to have poverty traps which may be based on religion, geographic location, and ethnicity. These traps are prevalent in both the rich and poor countries. The steps undertaken are very essential in the growth and development of a country. Good government intervention and policies are very essential in growth.
Conclusion
Technology in a country is very essential in achieving growth and development when well integrated with skilled labor. There are usually leaks in the knowledge that has overall benefits. In making attempts to realize the predicted growth, there are usually barriers that have to be avoided.