Development and econonmics copy
Development and Econonmics
The concept that “development” is identical with “economic
growth,” on the other hand, has come in for a great deal of criticism in
recent years. That of Amartya Sen is by far the most important. He has
argued that “commodities,” the creation of which is a big component of
economic development, are only of value to us in terms of what they
really enable us to accomplish. This is by far the most significant
argument. Sen proposes that we should think about development rather
in terms of people’s power to attain those things that they have reason to
value. “The focus here is on the freedom that a person really has to do
this or be that—things that he or she may value doing or being,” Sen
says (Sen 2009: 231, emphasis added).
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