*The Changing Economic World (Paper 2) Flashcards
This is a compulsory topic. It cover economic development, closing the development gap, rapid economic development in LICs/NEEs and the impacts and major changes in the UK economy.
What is development?
The progress a country makes. As a country develops it usually means that people’s standard of living and quality of life improve.
What factors affect a country’s level of development?
- Environmental factors: natural hazards e.g. earthquakes
- Economic factors: trade and debt
- Social factors: access to clean drinking water and education
- Political factors: stable government or civil war
What is the ‘development gap’?
The development gap is the difference in standards of living between the world’s richest and the world’s poorest countries.
How can we measure development?
Through a range of different indicators:
- GNI per capita
- birth rate/death rate
- infant mortality rate
- life expectancy
- people per doctor
- literacy rate
- access to safe water
- human development index (HDI)
What is Gross National Income (GNI)?
GNI is the total value of goods and services produced by a country plus money earned from overseas
What is the problem with using GNI?
Some countries may seem to have a high GNI as they are relatively wealthy and have a small population but it doesn’t always mean that the population have a good quality of life.
What are the limitations of using economic and social indicators to measure development?
- Data might be outdated
- Some data is difficult to collect
- Some information is unreliable
- Informal work isn’t included in data
- Government may be corrupt
What is the demographic transition model?
A geographical model that shows how a country’s population changes over time.
How is the demographic transition model linked to development?
As a country develops (becomes richer) the population of the country also changes. Typically, the birth rate and death rate lower as a country develops
What is happening at stage 1 of the demographic transition model? (comment on births ,deaths and overall population)
- High birth rate
- High death rate
- Population is stable and low
What is happening at stage 2 of the demographic transition model? (comment on births, deaths and overall population)
- Birth rate high
- Death rate starts to decline
- Population begins to increase
What is happening at stage 3 of the demographic transition model? (comment on births, deaths and overall population)
- Birth rate drops rapidly
- Death rate continues to slowly decrease
- Population increasing at a slow rate
What is happening at stage 4 of the demographic transition model? (comment on births, deaths and overall population)
- Low birth rate
- Low death rate
- Population is high
What is happening at stage 5 of the demographic transition model? (comment on births, deaths and overall population)
- Extremely low birth rate
- Death rate increases slightly (due to ageing population)
- Population decreases
What is ‘uneven development’?
- Uneven development within a country is when some places develop, whilst others do not progress
- On a global scale, some countries are experiencing development whilst many are not
List the factors that cause uneven development
- Physical causes: Landlocked countries, climate, extreme weather, lack of water
- Economic causes: trade
- Historical causes: Colonialism
How can physical factors cause uneven development?
- Landlocked countries do not have a coastline so find it difficult to trade
- Tropical climates: pests and diseases spread easily
- Extreme weather e.g. drought hinders development
How economic factors such as trade can cause uneven development?
Rich countries often buy raw materials from poor countries at a low cost. They then make these into higher priced manufactured goods and sell them on. Rich get richer, poorer remain poor.
How can historical factors such as colonialism can cause uneven development?
Many richer nations such as North America and Europe had powerful colonies in Asia, Africa and South America. When the colonies gained independence, they had limited governance and order in society which destabilized these area and hindered development.
Name some problems caused by uneven development
- Big differences in health
- Big differences in wealth
- Migration (people move away from hardship)
Give some examples of health differences that result from uneven development
- LICs - most deaths are children under 15. Common causes of death are HIV/AIDS or diarrhoea related diseases and malaria.
- HICs - most deaths are amongst people over 70. Common causes of death are heart disease, diabetes.
Give some evidence to prove global disparities (differences) in wealth
- Fastest growth in wealth was North America (2014)
- Qatar is the wealthiest country
- China has had the highest growth in wealth of all NEEs
- Africa has the smallest share of global wealth at 1%
Why does uneven development lead to migration?
People suffering from the negatives of uneven development (e.g poverty, poor health) want to move away in search of an improved quality of life
Give an example of a country where people have migrated due to war
- Syria
- Afghanistan