POLS209 Politics of International Aid and Dev. Review

Weeks 1-5

who started the idea of underdeveloped areas?

Harry Truman (1949), president of U.S

NAM

non-aligned movement; unity for countries outside the two power bloc

HDI

human development index

NICs

newly industrialized countries

• manufactured goods = 30% of GDP

• manufactured goods = 50% of total exports

• shift of employment from agriculture to industry

• per capita income >$2k USD

GNP

gross national product - based on country’s own businesses

GDP

gross domestic product

what is gross domestic product?

measure of the value of goods/services produced by total economy, usually high from natural resource wealth

GNI

gross national income. introduced by world bank to partition countries into income groups

a basis for loan programs

OECD

organization for economic cooperation and development

What is the problem with GDP per capita?

only reflects average income per capita, depends on the quality of gov. stats agencies

social capital

(fukuyama 1995) - the extent to which individuals are willing to cooperate in the pursuit of shared goals → essential to the dev of civic and democratic culture

why are developing nations more unequal?

colonial/neocolonial economic relations

late industrialization - misuse of capital

inadequate/nonexistent social safety nets

poverty

extremely low level of income

absolute poverty

below the minimum lvl of income for physical survival (below $1 a day as of 1993)

moderate poverty

basic needs barely met but survival not threatened

relative poverty

individual lacks income to fully participate in society (no phone? etc.)

what are the three factors for HDI

long and healthy life

knowledge

standard of living

whats the problem with labeling?

legitimizes current practices

influences future policies

whats the critique for HDI?

doesn’t consider the weight of each category, quality of access for each category, limited by data, doesnt explain how to address the problem

what are the problems with labelling “development”

based on the ideal conditions of social existence, assumes development is positive, uses social evolutionism, economistic (not a pure science, excludes structural inequalities), universalist (assumes everyone has western norms)

ODA

official development assistance

what are the two forms of ODA

bilateral, multilateral

what are examples of multilateral ODA streams?

pooled ODA into IGOs, EU, World Bank, WHO, Unicef, UN

what are examples of Bilateral ODA streams?

OECD countries (rich club) giving to another recipient country (MFAT, CEDA etc)

What qualifies ODA?

1. have promotion of economic development and welfare as the main objective

2. extended to developing countries

3. from official sources (gov)

4. concessional financial terms

   1. better terms than private loans/banks

   2. grant you dont have to pay back

   3. long period to pay back

what are the two things ODA has?

1. loans

   1. must be repaid

   2. has interest

2. grants

   1. gifted

   2. no interest

   3. may have conditionality (adjustment country must do in exchange for a grant)

what was the target of GNI for aid per OECD DAC members?

0.7%, introduced in 1971 (largely not met!)

What are the 4 key events leading to the birth of development

1. bretton woods conference

2. united nations created

3. marshall plan

4. truman’s point