Karol

Wednesday September 29, 2010
Journal Entry # 2
Chapter 2 in TS 10

                                                          Ukraine

As shown on Table 2.1 in the TS textbook, Ukraine is a lower middle income country (LMC). Although they are regarded as a lower middle income country and their average income continues to rise above the LMCs throughout the years where Ukraine’s Gross National Income (GNI) was $3,210 in 2008, and the income of lower middle countries was $2,073 in 2008, their GDP was much lower than lower middle countries in 2008 (lower middle income: $8,277.78, Ukraine: $180.355 – U.S. dollars in billions). (The World Bank, 2010). According to the TS text, this means that Ukraine’s economic output is not doing so well – although Ukraine has 57,935,000 hectares of land where 52.5% of it is agricultural. (Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), July 2010) –   correlating with the standard of living, meaning there is no significant improvement on the people’s day to day environment of life, which according to Todaro and Smith is one of three components on basing a country’s human development index (HDI).

The other two elements that assist to rank countries based on human development are life expectancy at birth (health) as well as knowledge (education). By this Todaro and Smith argue that a country’s income per capita is not the only element that measures a country’s economic development, the human development of people such as the standard of living, health and education, (which was already mentioned) determines overall growth as well. It is stressed in the text that a value premise (objectives and desires) has to be clear between the people of a nation and the leader so that there is a mutual consensus that will allow for progressive economic growth. If for example the people of a nation are not provided with a value premise they desire such as health care and/or a sanitary and clean environment, than they will often get ill and not be able... [continues]

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