Development and Poverty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Development and Poverty - Term Paper Example The concept, however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially Industrialization are other terms people have used when discussing economic development. Although no one is sure when the concept originated, most people agree that development is closely bound up with the evolution of capitalism and the demise of feudalism.† (University of Iowa's Center for International Finance and Development) To improve the economic stability, the government of a country must aims at directing its policies in the right directions. It should endeavor to achieve some basic objectives, such as price control, increasing employment and trade opportunities. The government should strive hard to improve the civil and social infrastructure, like highways, affordable housing for its people, so that the overall economy of the country booms and its benefit is transferred to the people at grass root level. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a compound a nd complex guide to rank the countries of the world by their level of human development. It differentiates the countries into four categories, which are "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries. ... Poverty The unavailability of material possession, finances and basic human need such as shelter, food etc refers to the poverty of the people of a particular country. Basic human necessities, such as food, water, shelter, education, health, nutrition etc are the responsibility of the government. But when the government fails to provide its people these facilities then the people are forced to live a life of poverty. The poverty threshold or the poverty line is the minimum level of income which is required to access these basic needs. People who are not even able to access these fundamental needs are said to be living a life below the poverty line. It is estimated that about 1.7 billion people across the globe are living their lives below the poverty line. Poverty is the worst form of violence. (Mohandas Gandhi)   There are many ways of measuring the poverty of the people of a particular region. Among them are the Gini Coefficient and the Headcount Index. The Gini Coefficient was d eveloped by an Italian statistician Corrado Gini. It is a measure of the statistical dispersion and measures the inequality of a distribution. It tells how wealth is distributed in a particular region, or among the different classes living in the society. The Headcount Index gives the proportion of the people who are forced to live a life below the poverty line. If â€Å"p† people are considered to be living below the poverty line in a population of â€Å"n†, then the Headcount Index â€Å"H† can be calculated as H=p/n. To calculate the Headcount Index, the estimates of the individual economic condition and the poverty line of that particular region is required. Poverty in South America South America is a region of the world which has a very high poverty rate even