ROSTOW’S STAGES OF GROWTH
Walt Whitman Rostow, with his work stages of Economic Growth, ushered a new age of writing on "modernization theory." His work has been greatly appreciated, debated and criticize. He subtitled this work as ‘A Non-Communist Manifesto’ suggesting that he intended for it to be an alternative to Marxism. His work has been popular in development studies and particularly used by the Kennedy and the Johnson Administrations in the United States to justify aid to the Third World.
Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth attempt to identify the key variables in the process of world economic history and the resulting stage of economic growth. It combines economics and history and Rostow claims that these stages can be used to explain the course of economic history and also yield predictions for the future.
He specifies 5 different stages. The first stage is the traditional society in which the economy functions within a limited production function. It is a primitive society, a central feature of which is that there is an upper ceiling to the level of attainable output per head. The society is mainly dependent on the natural factor endowment however, it is not static and keeps growing and changing. The next stage is the stage where the preconditions for take-off are established. This period is a transition from a traditional society to a better production function to enable it to use modern science and fend off diminishing returns. This stage is characterized by an
Describe the best parts of the society described in this
Ronald Reagan: An Era of Steady Economic Growth In a time when there was a lack of jobs, rising inflation, and an energy crisis all affecting the country, there was no doubt that Jimmy Carter, the sitting president at the time, would clearly be challenged by his opponent, Ronald Reagan. Reagan, a former governor of California, was known as a great communicator from his days being a governor. Reagan, who was best known at that time for the time he spent as a Hollywood actor and governor, came from humble roots, born and raised in a small apartment without running water and indoor plumbing. Later on, Reagan attended Eureka College in Illinois.
The Industrial Revolution cast its shadow upon European cities and towns. Some enjoyed this shade while others suffered tremendously because of it. Those who enjoyed the luxuries and wealth that the Industrial Revolution provided, the bourgeoisie, depended on the needs of the poor, the proletarians, to increase the size of their monstrous factories and ultimately their wealth and influence. In “The Communist Manifesto” Karl Marx discusses the effects of the Industrial Revolution in further dividing society by creating new social and economic hierarchies. In addition to his observation of the division of labor, Karl Marx believed, that due to the technological shift from craftsmanship to machinery this also caused division of labor and the appreciation of proletarian handmade goods was disregarded.
Capitalism is a highly dynamic system which brought immense material wealth to the human society. This essay traces the historical dynamism of capitalism from its minority status to its majority status in term of demand and supply of investment capital. The emergence of capitalism as a mode of production out of pre-capitalist mode of production was fully formed by the mid-nineteenth century (Hobsbawn, Age of Capital: 1848-1875) this in no way implies that it was quantitatively dominant mode of production.
Marxism is the idea of social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. Social processes are the way individuals and groups interact, adjust and reject and start relationships based on behavior which is modified through social interactions. Overall marxism analyzes how societies progress and how and society ceases to progress, or regress because of their local or regional economy , or global economy. In this case, Marxism’s theory applies to the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, where a society where mass satisfaction is the instrument utilized by places of power known as the Alphas in order to control the oppressed by keeping the Epsilons numb, at the cost of their opportunity to choose their own way of life. Marx thinks that an individual had a specific job to do in order to contribute to their community and that is the only way to do so; There is no escaping your contribution either.
His five stages of development range from the muscular power of the individual man, which he claims is the initial energy source; followed by harnessing of energy from domesticated animals, the agricultural revolution, which provided sustainable food sources and reserves. Stage three continues with the Industrial Revolution and finally, the harnessing of Nuclear Power. White believes controlling energy is the motivating force behind human development. Alvin Toffler’s perspective of innovation claims that society is moving too fast in the short period of time. He believes in three stages of development; the agrarian, industrial and postindustrial stages.
Modern society who build “supermarkets and malls the/ altars of money” (Harjo 10-11). That is to say, humanity has strayed to material needs and desires, over appreciating the natural world. There is no denying that society has been evolving for hundreds of years, the question is whether it has been in a positive of negative direction. Technological advancements and scientific discoveries have been the framework for modern society, and with those advancements come problems. One example of new found problems with society are in the lines “Keep track of the errors of our forgetfulness; the fog steals our/ children while we sleep” (Harjo 12-13).
From a traditional, agrarian society, the economy evolved to take on capitalist features, revolving around the concepts of supply and demand, and using machines in conjunction with human labour with the ultimate goal of making a profit in the market. With so much demand and supply, the government listened to the new ideas and that was the evolution of the give and take between the government and their citizens. The same applied for the creation of social duty as well. These massively impacted the agricultural and manufacturing processes as well, which led to further significant changes in the economic system. For instance, farm production, which was once done manually by hand and produced with the aim of feeding the immediate family, became commercialised.
The pre-industrial societies were based on the cultivation and ownership of land, this was a vast foundation for social hierarchies, where the highest classes owned the land and the lowest worked on them.
The land size of the state should be large enough to accommodate the needs of the people. The state class system is made up of farmers and artisans. The farmers and artisans are necessary for production of good and services in the state. These works not enjoy citizen rights (copslt 356). These workers are the back bone of this type of society and make the sacrifices in order to help the society to achieve the great good.
Lastly, the ambivalent connection between technology and society will be discussed. The advancement of technology in society correlates with global change. Technology determinism refers to the notion that technology serves as an agent to promote social change and transform the natural environment (Murpie & Potts, 2003). Cultural materialism refers to the relationship between technology and culture (Murphie and Potts, 2003). Technological determinism is a reductionist theory and it primary focuses on the advancement of social structure and cultural values (Veblen, 1857–1929).
INTRODUCTION Economic growth is defined as the increased capacity of an economy to be able to produce goods and services in comparison from one period of time to another. This is figured by the genuine Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and development, and is measured by utilizing genuine terms such as “Balanced Inflation”. These terms help to remove any distorted views on the perceived outcome of inflation on the cost of merchandises produced. Likewise, Economic growth is related to the high expectations in a person’s standard of living. If the standards are high, it wouldn’t be beneficial for the economy as the working class individuals will face a lot of trouble.
Economic growth and economic development In measuring and identifying the factors that stimulate the growth of the economy of a nation such as the Republic of India, a distinction needs to be made between economic growth and economic development. For a nation to experience economic growth, there must be an increase in the gross domestic product (GDP), which is a qualitative measure of the value of all finished goods and services produced in that country within a period of time. However, economic development which is usually measured through the human development index (HDI), includes not only an increase in the output of goods and services, but an improvement in the welfare of individuals within a country.
ROLE OF MONEY IN MACROECONOMICS 1. Introduction Money can be seen as the medium of exchange which is acceptable while transaction is being undertaken between two parties. Some of the common forms of money are: - Commodity money: This is when the value of the good represents its value in terms of money like gold or silver. - Fiat money: This is when the value of the good is less than the value it represents - Bank money: It is the accounting credits that can be used by the depositor Money serves a variety of crucial functions in the economy and this is why it has gained an unparalleled influence in the matters of economy at micro as well as macro levels. Some of the features of money that make it so important for any economy are as follows:
Thus human beings are the most basic element of the society. In that case there is no society without human beings. Society is a historically formed human community that inseparably tied by the economic relation. This economic relation is created in the process of material production with social, political and cultural processes depend on those relation.