Economic Development

1. Wendy A. Mitteager
State University of New York, Oneonta
Ch. 7 - Geographies of
Economic Development – Pt. I

2. Key Concepts – Pt.I:
• Economic development – prosperity levels resulting from economic
activities – measured in currency but not in Human development
• Economic Measures – GDP, GNI, & PPP
• Global Economic Shifts – Agriculture to Industrialization & Socialism to
Capitalism, Regional specialization to Globalization
• Economic specialization – Core-Periphery - Core dominating development
& technology
• Carrying capacity – how long it takes Earth to replenish resources used by
Humans
• Sustainable development – balancing costs with human benefits
• Key Resources to Economic Development - Cultivable Land, Energy,
Valuable Minerals
Figure: Chapter 7 Opener: Migrant workers in China boarding a train home for a seasonal festival.

3. Core World Economic Regions:
•North America
•Europe
•Japan
• Australia
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Diversified advanced
technology with highest
productivity, levels of
prosperity.
• Single most defining
characteristic of
economic development
based on capitalism is
the global core-
periphery contrast –
direct result of
competitive economic
system.

4. Economic Development defined as:
• The level & rates of change in “prosperity” including “productivity”
or GDP, incomes, & purchasing power in a globalized capitalist
economic system.
Broader changes as a result of Economic Development should
include Improved Life Conditions:
• Better housing
• Health care
• Education
• Social welfare or basic Human rights to sustain life
• Economic & Physical Infrastructure to support society
Measures of Economic Growth:
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is measured AS TOTAL VALUE of all products,
goods, services produced by country in 1 years. Total Population/Monetary
Value = GDP
• Gross National Income (GNI) – GNI=“INTERNATIONAL DOLLARS” = Income
measure flows to country from production in other regions. Higher for Core vs.
Periphery & direct reflection of this Paradigm
• Purchasing power parity (PPP) – how much goods & services each currency can
purchase locally in a country.

5. Figure 7.1 GNI is one of the best single measures of economic development.
Use this map to compare the core countries with the peripheral and semiperipheral countries.
GrossNationalIncome–G.N.I.–WorldRegions
JAPAN
Core Nations/1st World – political stability – economic specialization
RUSSIA
BRAZIL
Semi-periphery –
major resources,
Minerals &
Rainforests
1. THAILAND
INDIA
2. SINGAPORE
2.
1.
S. AFRICA
Periphery Nations – political instability, natural resource
issues 3rd World – post Cold War, newly independent African,
South American, & Asian nations
Andes Mts., high elevation
steppes & Atacama Desert –
Subsistence Agriculture
The Sahel
Congo
Sahara Desert
INDONESIA
CHINA
Subsistence Agriculture Subsistence Agriculture

6. Patternsof EconomicDevelopment
• Major Global
Economic Shifts in the
past Century:
• Agriculture to
Manufacturing
• Rural to Urban Migration
of World’s Population
• Socialism to Free
Market Capitalism
• Global pattern of
Unevenness in
Economic Development
•Core always has
advantage vs.
Developing Semi-
periphery & Periphery
Nations. Northern Core
has advantage of better
environment for agriculture,
resulted in complex, highly
specialized economic
development from
Industrial Revolution.
•European & U.S.
Infrastructure reinforces
pattern of advanced
economic development via
finance, technology, natural
resources & minerals
/manufacturing.

7. Patternsof EconomicDevelopment(cont.)
Post WWII Investment in Europe
• The Marshall Plan in post WWII Europe was a comprehensive
economic recovery plan that rebuilt Europe back into Core region.
• U.S. provided much of the economic aid.
• Japan rebuilt into technologically advanced nation.
Socialism to Free Market Capitalism: China, former U.S.S.R., other
former communist-bloc nations shifting to Capitalist economies
• Formerly Communist nations of Europe & USSR participating in the European Union
Technological Advances, Use & Availability define Economic
Growth Poles, P.237 – Regions & Companies that aren’t nation-specific but are
Growth Engines & Centers of Innovation.
• The 4 Motors of Europe & International Investment: Baden-Württemberg, Germany,
Catalonia, Spain, Lombardy, France, & Rhône-Alpes, Switzerland
• The Silicon Valley - center of innovation, invention of Silicon chip that sped up
computing
• US Transnational Corporations such as Apple Computers in China

8. MajorFactorsinEconomicDevelopment:
• Cultivable land – Subtropical & Tropical lands at risk of deforestation &
soil erosion. Rainforests are complex, they’re not going to regenerate in 1
lifetime. Losing vegetation contributes to global warming, trees are
Oxygen sources.
• Carrying capacity – how long it takes for the Land to regenerate the
resources used by Humans in a year. U.S./Core overuses by 1.3 x’s carrying
capacity, using natural resources of Periphery – Forests, Oil, etc.
• Industrial resources – Core nations have rich mineral deposits that
underlie the Industrial Revolution & evolution of manufacturing.
Figure 7.3 Deforestation of rainforest in Cameroon.
Figure 7.2 PERIPHERY NATIONS have OIL. BUT Major
sources of energy are unevenly distributed.

9. %ofCultivableLandforAgriculture
North of 30 degrees Latitude – “the North” with developed horizons, post-
glacial soils, moderate humid climates & mineral wealth
South of 30 degrees Latitude – “the South” soils with less developed
horizons, iron accumulates at top, subtropical Arid & semi Arid environments
• Tropical Rainforest soils are the most vulnerable to depletion & erosion.
DESERTS
DESERT
DESERT
STEPPE
30 S. Latitude30 S. Latitude
30 North Latitude
Equator Equator
Mid-latitude Mid-latitude
Mid-latitude
RainforestRainforest Rainforest
Rainforest
30 North Latitude

10. Sustainabledevelopment& Ecologicalfootprint
• Balancing environmental impacts & social equity
of distribution of costs & benefits of economic
growth. Nations in the periphery give up the rights to their
natural resources to enrich Core nations & corporations. Ex.: Chevron
in Nigeria. Why is Chevron profiting with the oil of Nigerians? Greed
& corruption
• Ecological footprint – 1980’s energy use & 2006
use of resources > supply by 40%
• Barriers to both:
• Reliance on fossil fuels
• Rate of Population growth in periphery nations
• Lack of Global leadership & Institutions to coordinate
& balance growth between core & periphery

11. PrimaryEconomicActivities,2002
Figure 7.7 The geography of the primary economic activities of:
Agriculture, Forestry, & Fishing

12. Energy Access - Oil
• Oil is the single most important commodity in world trade
today. Importing Oil is a huge cost to nations without it:
• Most peripheral countries are energy poor.
• India, Ghana, Paraguay, Egypt & Armenia
• Semi-peripheral nations with Oil:
• Algeria, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Libya, Nigeria, Venezuela,
& the Persian Gulf Nations.
• Peak Discovery of Oil was in the 1960’s & demand exceeded
Oil Supply in 1981
• 15% of World’s Population in Core nations use 1/2 of all
commercial energy as much as 10x’s as Periphery Nations.

13. Traditional energy sources - Firewood
• 1.5 Billion People depend on collection Firewood for fuel =
Deforestation, Population pressure in Arid & Semi Arid
Subtropical Regions of AFRICA & ASIA
• Firewood = 20% of World’s Energy Consumption
• Up to 80% of energy use in Africa & Asia
• Cooking, Heating, Lighting, & some Industrial use
• 22 Countries – 100 Million People cannot meet energy needs
via Forests, 16 in Africa
• Global Distribution of Cultivable Land Factor in International
Ec. Dev.: ½ of Earth’s land is unsuitable for Farming
• Shallow soils, arid climates, high elevations