# data[].attributes.body
- Cultural barriers are not necessarily definitive of a country's ability to develop (similar to geography)
- However: higher income countries have lower fertility rates (less than 2 children) in comparison to lower income/less developed countries (more than 4 children, though in some it is above 6)
- High fertility rates --> less economic development (large populations, bigger families, fewer providers in the family, the perpetuation of joblessness for women)
- Lower income countries --> pyramid-shaped (puts prosperity "out of reach")
- Higher income countries --> inverted pyramid
- A major step towards lowering fertility rates and declining poverty --> keep girls in school, prioritize education (as many countries have done in East Asia), and see women as being equal (rights, no discrimination, political participation, etc).
- If society runs on half its possible power, there will be little development.
- Rwanda (low mortality rates, more than half of     parliament is women, strong education)

# data[].attributes.body
Relations between a state and other foreign states in terms of politics, security and economics.

-  international relations

-  trade (import, export)

-  military conflicts

If the geopolitics of a country are driven by peaceful relations with others (i.e. no military conflict, positive trade deals, peaceful international relations —> positive sum game) they foster political, social and economical development.

# data[].attributes.body
- The government is vital for building the infrastructure necessary for economic development.
- Government is essential for human capital development: the health, education, and nutrition of the population, especially of the children.
- An effective government is necessary to ensure economic opportunity for all, including the poorest of the poor. --> allowing them to escape 'trap' --> public help (environment, education, health) --> high social spending (augment taxes)
- Government is vital for the rule of law. --> living together --> if corrupt --> no order
- China is an example where the government has played an essential role
in enabling very rapid growth
- Government also has to regulate key sectors of the economy. Finance is one of them. Unregulated banking systems tend to get into crisis. --> 2008 crisis

# data[].attributes.body
Geopolitics - a country's political and security relations with its neighbors, foes, and allies. If a country is physically secure from attack, enjoys national sovereignty, and is able to trade peacefully with other countries, geopolitics is the friend of economic development. Inversely, if the country is dominated by a foreign power, as in the colonial era, or is part of a proxy war of the great powers, the country can be undermined or even physically destroyed by the actions of more powerful countries.

Decent geopolitics is required because it is possible that one or more international partners is needed to get a job done, such as creating an effective road system in a country.

# data[].attributes.body
- poverty can be the result of some aspects of physical geography

- factors such as: being landlocked, far from trade, high in the mountains, unable to farm or engage in low-cost manufacturing, diseases, highly vulnerable to natural disasters

- high proportion of large cities lie along the coasts of continents

- Large cities in interior of continents are often along major rivers

- access to waterborne trade is key to global trade and economic growth

- Western Europe, the UK, and the Arabian Peninsula are examples of economies near ports that gives them an advantage to very low cost transportation conditions

- Large continental countries like Russia face a disadvantage:

- large cities are so far away from borders they face huge overland transportation conditions to get to ports

- Much of tropical Africa is landlocked (16 countries)

- goods from these countries need to be brought to ports and need to pass political borders

- Energy is at the core of economic activity -> fossil fuels facilitate GDP growth

- coal and oil reserves affect a countries GDP

- climate also affect GDP growth

- climate affects: crops productivity, disease, water availability and vulnerability to hazards

- tropical eco-zones struggle with crop production and diseases

- drylands make precipitation low and crop production is low or inexistent -> can lead to extreme poverty

- temperate zones (with winter and summer, mostly wet) have high access to clean water, long growing season, and near absence of tropical infectious diseases (eg malaria)

- Tropical infectious diseases hinder economic growth

- malaria debilitates societies -> children repeatedly absent from school, often never finish, many kids die, other grow up with long-term physical and cognitive difficulties, families have high numbers of kids due to dear of death, which leads to lack of food for large numbers, lack of access health care and education

- Geography does not prevent development but does provide obstacles

# data[].attributes.body
- When a country is too poor to make the investments that are need to get out of the cycle of extreme poverty and move towards of economic growth
Ex. A government known its responsibilities and has plans to restablish itself such as build roads, ports, and power grids; ensure access of the poor to safe water and sanitation; and so forth, but it just does not have the money to do so. The country is then stuck in the poverty trap because it cannot exit the cycle of poverty.
Two main ways to break the cycle:
1. Borrow Money from other governments to pay for public investments and pay the loans back with the money generated from the economic growth due to initial investments.
2. Rely on foreign governments, NGO's, IGO's and other organizations to provide temporary assistance to finance the country. As a result economic growth should follow and the aid can gradually be reduced until the country can stand on its own.

# data[].attributes.body
- Choosing the wrong kind of investment strategy
- Closing borders when international trade would be more beneficial
- Choosing central planning when when a market system would be more efficient

Example of good economic policies acting as solutions:
- As Poland underwent a large transition from communism to a market economy and from dictatorship to a democracy Sachs helped develop efficient economic policies to help the process.
- Restored market forces, supply and demand, international trade and budget balance.
- Poland proceeded to end it's high inflation and resumed economic growth based on a fast growing relationship with in economic trade and investment with Western Europe

# data[].attributes.body
Countries Geography and environmental barriers can affect their development and be one of the predominant causes behind a countries poverty.  (Ex. landlocked far from trade,  natural disasters earthquakes, tsunami's, )

# data[].attributes.body
Fiscal Policies:
- Taxing and Spending to stimulate or contract the economy (GDP)

Financial Insolvency:
-  If a government has a past history of overspending and over-borrowing, it can lead to bankruptcy
- This leads to mayor portions of the budget to be reserved to repaying debt or paying interest instead of investing in infrastructure, education, etc