Econ 417 Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Econ 417 Assignment 3 - Essay Example The technological advancements are increasing day by day and the technology is becoming more and more efficient. This not only increases the efficiency of these machines but the costs of installation have also been reduced. The writer gives examples of advancements in internet, agricultural and health sectors. Later it is explained that the growth in technology is actually extremely good for economic growth. The new technology which comes in actually makes the older one obsolete and out of date. As a result, this ends up being a drawback, as new technology ends up replacing old technology. An excellent example of the history of light is mentioned here. From the campfire discovered thousands of years ago passing through candles and bulbs, today’s fluorescent lights are 143,000 times brighter than the campfires (Easterly 175). These dramatic advancements in technology have been visible over centuries and this has increased efficiency manifold. With the presence of technology the people should also have the incentive to use it. Technology without incentive may be useless and this has been seen on multiple occasions in history. The romans had the resources and the technology but they did not progress. Similarly the Chinese were the first to have access to a variety of technologies before the Europeans could even have imagined. However, they lacked an incentive for its usage and as a result the technologies remained stagnant for a long period of time before they were taken over by others. Another feature which is important along with technology is education. It has been witnessed that the productivity of workers in developed economies may be similar but their income levels may be different. A very significant reason behind this is that the different educational levels cause different levels of usage of the technology. The important factor for technological progress and for economic growth is the incentive to use these for the betterment. For the poorer countr ies the absence of technology can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. The disadvantage can be in a sense that the absence of experience of technology can result in a reversal of effect. This is because the workers will be semi-skilled or unskilled as far as the expertise is concerned. This is because they will be inexperienced in the handling of technology. They will not be able to handle the machinery and the return over the technology will be much lower than to the skilled workers of the developed nations. The advantage will be extremely essential for the developing or under-developed countries because the installation of the technology and its implementation will be extremely cost effective. The will directly have to install the technology and it will be much easier instead of upgrading the old technology or replacing it. Chapter 10 Summary This chapter begins with the examples of the incidents in the lives of three women. These women represent the poverty stricken people fr om the poorer nations of Zambia, India and Vietnam. The three families face similar situations where the death of a working person results in the isolation of the family where they are now dependent on others for survival. They are thrown into the poverty trap by the human disasters which cannot be controlled. The poor households find themselves very vulnerable to shocks such as human disasters. Such households do not have any collateral and in situations of shock they are