Why Do Some Societies Prosper, While Others Remain Stagnant and Poor?

The economy of the world is changing all the time. We have had our ups and downs, but with the help of insights from economist, we have been able to sustain a decent economy. In Naked Economics, Wheelan discusses how a country can have a successful economy. He discusses why countries are poor and why some other countries are doing lavish things, like buying a cake for a dog. The reason behind it is because the richer countries are more productive and allocate resources and the poorer countries aren’t as efficient and don’t allocate resources. Wheelan also wrote about how Steve Jobs and Bill Gates became as rich as they are. They made huge investments in human capital to become rich. They became rich because they had a product that people were willing to give their money for. There are many problems in different economies and Wheelan explains why they are failing. Some economies suffer from a poorly ran government and others suffer from the lack of information. Trade is a positive thing, but there are people that discourage it because products are imported from outside of the United States.

Poverty is an issue that has affected society since civilization was first created. Even with a globalized economy and economic opportunity prevalent nearly everywhere, there is still a vast majority of people who live in financial strain. According to recent information obtained by the World Bank, “10.7% of the world’s population live on less than US $1.90 a day”(World Bank 2013). In the United States considered the wealthiest nation on Earth, the poverty rate is 12.7% which is 40.6 million people(US Census Bureau 2016). Though some people are in poverty because of their own choices, poverty is a result of structural institutional practices in place.

The author is able to draw his audience in emotionally by speaking of such countries, and how it eventually ties in to the United States, stating that “(if) a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich,” (3) concluding the connection between the U.S. and those countries who have a lower living standard.

It is crazy to hear that the top richest people in this world have the same wealth as the poorest 3 billion people in this world. Even though rich countries are giving aid to poor countries, the huge gap difference between their wealth is due to large corporations form rich countries taking more money from poor countries, and this really explains a lot why poor country never have the chance to actually thrive. The thought that poor people should be able to come up from where they came from, which is a thought in many people's minds, especially those who have money, isn't all that simple.

In this paper, I intend to analyze and argue, that we as humans have the right to not only own, but buy, sell, and trade privately owned property. I will also state why I believe that the United States Government should not be an active player in property rights, but an outside regulating source, not interfering or intervening. And I will also go on to say that The United States Government should just protect the people and the people’s property.

Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. once said, “And one day we must ask that question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’ and when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, and a broader system of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalist economy.” In other words that the capitalist economy is the reason why there are so many poor people, and the people who are struggling to get by not knowing if they are going to have a home next month or not. Since we have this class system it puts people in that state of mind where they become a slave just to work as hard, and never make it to where they want to be in life. Furthermore

Poverty is a basic element of capitalism; it is not a failure of this type of economy, but is actually evidence of its success. The existence of poverty has nothing to do with a poor distribution of wealth, but rather in a free-market economy, wealth is not distributed at all. Poverty proves that an individual’s ability to earn money is completely up to them. In theory the equal redistribution of wealth is a decent idea, but it is human nature to want to be better and have more than everyone else; therefore, there will always be people who are wealthy, and those who are not. In a world that prospers based on the low class jobs done by people in poverty, and poverty being a rigid cycle to break within minority groups, the world economy cannot

The current state of poverty within America proves that economic growth would do little to fix the social isolation that poor people experience. Considerable economic growth would lead to higher incomes and a better quality of life for all working Americans but those at the bottom will always have difficulty participating in a society that does not cater to their needs.

The problem of poverty has always plagued the world, including developed countries, such as America. It is one of the main reasons that less developed countries have difficulty developing at the pace of other countries. Many different actions can cause poverty. Most people have different opinions on why poverty still exists. “Nearly equal portions of the public in advanced, emerging, and developing countries, cite the gap between the rich and the poor as a very big problem. And notably, it is the leading economic concern in the eyes of people in major economies such as China and Germany, at 42 and 39 percent, respectively, according to the new Pew Research survey. A global median of 29 percent say their government’s actions are to blame for inequality, making it the leading cause cited. People in advanced economies, in particular, believe that their governments are responsible for the rich getting richer and equally culpable for the poor becoming relatively poorer. A median of 32 percent in those nations blame government, three times the percentage that cite the failings of their educational system and double the share who blame their tax system” (Stokes). Some people that are wealthy are also greedy. Although they control a large amount of wealth, they are unwilling to share it. Although it should not be the responsibility of wealthy people to support people in poverty, it would be helpful to the advancement of society. Another contributing reason that poverty exists is

Thousands of individuals are living in poverty. Why is it that this worldwide dilemma is still rising in rapid numbers till this day? Is it because of a lack of authoritative power, or a lack of one’s self control to do good? Despite the unknown cause, it has managed to drastically affect the lives of many. Poverty is like a curse, one that is wrongfully placed, difficult to get out of, and resistant to many forms of help.

It can be seen that there are a multitude of reasons that the poor tend to remain poor. Reasons ranging from the spending patterns of the poor to the health and nutrition of the poor all attribute to the creation of a poverty cycle that seemingly condemns the poor to being poor. Obviously this isn’t a rule of thumb but rather an accurate observation, it is not to say that the poor can’t become affluent but rather the conditions and environment that surrounds those who are poor severely impedes their ability to earn an income and move over the poverty

Amartya Sen defines economic development in terms of personal freedom, freedom to choose from a range of options. While economic growth may lead to an increase in the purchasing power of people, if the country has a repressed economy, there is lack of choice and hence personal freedom in restricted. Hence once again growth has taken place without any development. While economic growth may result in an improvement in the standard of living of a relatively small proportion of the population whilst the majority of the population remains poor. It is how the economic growth is distributed amongst the population that determines the level of development.

The questions are raised as what and how the wealth is distributed or allocated among societies. Countries with similar average incomes can differ substantially when it comes to people’s quality of life such as social justice, access to education and health care, job opportunities, availability of clean air and safe drinking water, the threat of crime, freedom of speech, life expectancy, birth-death control, identity, culture, conservation, equal opportunities, environmental change. Development is important as it covers a wide range process involving cultural, economic, environmental, political, social and technological change of a country. Regarding goals and means of development, recent United Nations documents emphasize on human development measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education as well as people‘s average income which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. In other words, human development incorporates all aspects of individuals’ well -being from their health status to their economic and political freedom. The Human Development Report 1996 of UNDP focuses on development as the end and economic growth a

This research also shows that economic growth, on average, raises incomes for both the rich and the poor. It helps to lift the poorest in society out of absolute poverty and does not automatically increase inequality. More importantly, no country has managed to lift itself out of poverty without integrating into the global economy.

Why Nations Fail takes an in depth look into why some countries flourish and become rich powerful nations while other countries are left in or reduced to poverty. Throughout this book review I will discuss major arguments and theories used by the authors and how they directly impact international development, keeping in mind that nations are only as strong as their political and economical systems.