Political Economy of Development

The market forces of demand and supply sometimes fail to bring about efficient allocation of resources which bring about market failure. Government intervention in solving the challenges of market failures is very beneficial both in the short and long run period. Government intervention is beneficial in saving the environment, availing the population with public goods, and limiting monopoly powers.

Running head: ECONOMICS 1
10Political Economy of Development
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10Political Economy of Development
Question two
The market forces of demand and supply sometimes fail to bring about efficient allocation
of resources which bring about market failure. Government intervention in solving the
challenges of market failures is very beneficial both in the short and long run period.
Government intervention is beneficial in saving the environment. Sometimes pollution
cannot be effectively addressed by the market mechanism meaning that Government has to
intervene and set pollution limits and taxes on the pollutants to save the population and the
environment at large. Government’s intervention is beneficial in availing the population
with public goods like the erecting of light houses which may not be provided by the private
sector. Lastly, Government intervention is beneficial in limiting monopoly powers
(Alperovitz, 2011).
The capitalist system is based on expropriation and exploitation. Therefore, Government’s
intervention is essential in enhancing the welfare of the population like the workforce,
eliminating corruption and at the same ensures that there is sustained economic growth
and development. It is important to note that by its very nature, capitalism is centered on
profit maximization at all costs but not service provision (Kotler, 2015). Government has to
intervene and ensure that the rights of the workforce are protected through better working
conditions and salaries; there is effective environmental protection and inclusive growth.
Government’s intervention in capitalistic states can be in form of regulations aimed at
enhancing social and economic welfare of the population (235 words).

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References
Alperovitz, G. (2011). America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and
Our Democracy, 2nd Edition. Democracy Collaborative Press. ISBN 0-9847857-0-1.
Kotler, P. (2015). Confronting Capitalism: Real Solutions for a Troubled Economic
System. AMACOM. ISBN 978-0814436455.
Question three
William easterly argues that foreign aid is not a solution to development problems in less
developed countries (Easterly, 2014). He argues that the only way poverty can be eliminated
in poor economies is through economic and home grown political reforms (Foreman, 2013).
In other words Bono is not the biggest hope for the less developed countries but rather the
citizens of the third or less developed economies .On other hand, Jeff sach believes that
there is need to amplify the successes other than pointing to failures of aid. In other words
foreign aid from developed economies has a strong impact in addressing some of the
challenges in developing economies like disease.
Basing on William easterly argument it is clear that foreign aid is not a solution to Africa’s
problem. Recent studies carried out how that there is no single economy that has ever
emerged out of poverty due to foreign aid (Foreman, 2013). In fact foreign aid in less
developed countries has killed the spirit of creativity and innovativeness, discouraged hard
work and also impacted on the overall independence and sovereignty of developing
economies. Therefore for developing countries to grow there is need for proper institutional
frame work aimed at encouraging home production and other forms of macroeconomic
stability (Moyo, 2010).

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As Jeff, argues foreign aid still has an impact in developing countries especially those faced
or emerging from wars, natural calamities and others. Therefore developing countries if
they have proper accountability mechanism they can still benefit from aid to eliminate
poverty and promote economic growth and development (258 words)
References
Easterly, W. ( 2014). "Aid Amnesia: Jeffrey Sachs has gone down the rabbit hole on the aid
debate. He doesn't even remember what it was all about".Retrieved from
https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/01/23/aid-amnesia/
Moyo, D. (2010). Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is Another Way for
Africa. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-103118-7.
Foreman, J.(2013). Aiding and Abetting: Foreign Aid Failures and the 0.7%
Deception. Civitas. ISBN 978-1906837440.
Question four
Sub-Saharan Africa is still experiencing high levels of poverty, hunger and disease. The levels
of unemployment, industrialization and life expectancy are also still low in Africa. Walter
Rodney, a prominent scholar and pan-africanist clearly argued that Europe under developed
Africa through colonialism. In deed though colonialism was abolished its legacy is still
present in a number of African states. It is important to note that a number of atrocities
and crimes against humanity were carried out by European colonialists in Africa like massive
murder, intentional spread of specific diseases like small pox and sexually transmitted
diseases such as syphilis, Gonorrhoea and others, slave trade, forced assimilations among
others. The legacies of these atrocities are still evident in sub-Saharan Africa. In countries

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like south-Africa the high levels of prevalence of HIV is linked to the European colonialists
who intentionally spread such diseases in order to eliminate the black race and have control
of the means and forces of production (Karim, 2017).
Africa was robbed of its energetic and strong man power during slave trade. Many young
and energetic Africans who would be playing an important role in shaping the economic
dynamics of Africa were taken to America and the Caribbean during slave trade where by
many were killed and other castrated. Such barbaric and inhuman colonial practices still
have a lasting impact on the Africa. As Rodney argued that colonial brutality was a very
common practice in each and every part of Africa. This was undertaken as a strategy of
extracting profits from Africa and subduing resistance as many were forced to live there
fertile lands and made slaves in their own countries.
More over the colonialists disunited Africans through the divide and rule policy. Before the
coming of the colonialists, the African people were very united in various forms of social,
political and economic systems. The divide and rule policy up to date has been the main
cause of war and genocides in Africa which have contributed to under development. For
example in countries like Rwanda, the Belgians divided the Tutsi against the Hutu in order to
effectively colonize Rwanda which in the long run had devastating effects leading to the
1994 genocide where over one million people were excited on ethnic basis. Additionally,
the European colonialist failed to prepare African adequately for self governance through
education. It is clear the Europeans were never interested in developing Africa and its
people but rather their aim was exploitation. Therefore wars, disease, famine and other
evidence of underdevelopment in Africa are still linked to European colonialism (Issa,2012).

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However, to some extent colonialism is not to blame for Africa problems. Colonialism did
not happen only in Africa. A number of countries in Asia and Latin America were also
colonized. Therefore, some of Africa’s problems are caused by lack of democratic
institutions, tonic corruption and other institutional challenges which makes it difficult to
eliminate poverty, hunger and disease in Africa. It is clear that a number of countries in Asia
like Singapore and South Korea which were also subjected to colonialism are doing well
economically. So Africa has to rise and address its problems (Vaught, 2015) (522 words)
References
Issa ,G. S. (2012). "Remembering Walter Rodney", Monthly Review, Volume 64, Issue 07.
Karim, F, H. (2017). The Enduring Relevance of Walter Rodney's How Europe
Underdeveloped Africa
Vaught, S. (2015). "'Grounding' Walter Rodney in Critical Pedagogy: Toward Praxis in African
History". South. 1 (1): 4–5.

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References
Alperovitz, G. (2011). America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and
Our Democracy, 2nd Edition. Democracy Collaborative Press. ISBN 0-9847857-0-1.
Easterly, W. ( 2014). "Aid Amnesia: Jeffrey Sachs has gone down the rabbit hole on the aid
debate. He doesn't even remember what it was all about".Retrieved from
https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/01/23/aid-amnesia/.
Foreman, J. (2013). Aiding and Abetting: Foreign Aid Failures and the 0.7%
Deception. Civitas. ISBN 978-1906837440.
Issa ,G. S. (2012). "Remembering Walter Rodney", Monthly Review, Volume 64, Issue 07.
Karim, F, H. (2017). The Enduring Relevance of Walter Rodney's How Europe
Underdeveloped Africa
Kotler, P. (2015). Confronting Capitalism: Real Solutions for a Troubled Economic
System. AMACOM. ISBN 978-0814436455.
Moyo, D. (2010). Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is Another Way for
Africa. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-103118-7.
Vaught, S. (2015). "'Grounding' Walter Rodney in Critical Pedagogy: Toward Praxis in African
History". South. 1 (1): 4–5.

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