1. Improving the Standard of Living
Through Economic development

2. The richest countries of the North and West have achieved the highest levels of economic development
This means their economies have gone through the stages needed to reach maturity and beyond
This development enables them to generate large quantities of national income

3. Stages of Economic development
Traditional society
Reliance on agricultural activity (only
activity)
People are self sufficient, no markets,
no machinery used on farms (labour intensive)
Experienced by Europe up till the 1700’s

4. The Transition
Farming methods become more
sophisticated and capital intensive, produce
traded on markets
First factories developed – making mostly
farm machinery
Banks developed, lending money to
entrepreneurs for production

5. Development of industries
Farming became highly commercialised
Large scale production and trade resulted in
high profits – demand for goods increased
and more manuafacturing industries
emerged

6. Reaching maturity
Manufacturing is the largest contributor to
GDP
The country has moved into new industries
and is pursuing new, non-traditional
technologies
The country is able to produce virtually anything
it wishes

7. Mass production
Most of the population is employed and
experiences a high standard of living
International trade makes a larger contribution to GDP than manufacturing for domestic consumption

8. Globalisation
There are no limits to movement of humans, goods and capital
International trade is a top priority for government as a way of increasing wealth
There is evidence of foreign goods everywhere and communication and transport systems are geared towards this