The economic growth that a country and its people achieve over a period of time, is achieved at the cost of the environment.
Environment is badly damaged because of various economic activities - industrial activities, mining activities, and infrastructure development, etc.
Sustainable development is the need of the hour. It has the potential to address the challenges of the environment and also of the economy.
All biotic and abiotic factors collectively constitute environment.
All living organisms, such as animals, human beings, plants, birds, insects, and all other single cell and multi-cell organisms are biotic elements.
All other non-living things, such as air, water, land, etc. are abiotic elements.
Macroeconomics is a broader concept; it talks about the whole economics of the country. For example:
Needs are the basic items required for human survival. And, goods and services are produced to satisfy those basic needs. Every individual in one or the other way is engaged in the production of goods and services.
As resources are limited; therefore, allocation of the resources and the distribution of the final mix of goods and services are the basic economic problems of our society.
The basic economic activities of our society are production, exchange, and consumptions of goods and services.
If production does not meet the demand, it leads to scarcity.
In the modern world, most of the economies are ‘Open Economy’ because of the three following reasons −
Market Linkage − It means consumers and firms both have the opportunity to choose between domestic and foreign goods.
Financial Market Linkage − It means investors have the opportunity to choose between domestic and foreign assets.
Factor Market Linkage − It means firms can choose where to locate production and workers can choose where to work.
1991 was a landmark year in the history of Indian economy. There was a tectonic shift in the Indian economic policy (during this year).
In 1991, India suffered great economic crisis, which was uncontrollable, the condition was worsening gradually; resultantly, the inflation of the prices of daily use commodities hit the people hard.
All of us are consumers, as all of us go to the market and purchase products; this is irrespective of the fact that we buy salt for Rs. 20 or a smart television for Rs. 50,000.
It is legal as well as moral duty of sellers to provide quality products to their consumers and, it is the right of the consumer to buy products of good quality.
Various laws, rules, and regulations have been put into practice to protect consumer rights.
In a mixed economy, Government plays an important role.
On certain things, the government has an exclusive right, such as national defence, roads, government administration, etc. (these are known as public goods).
Money is a commonly accepted medium of exchange.
Economic exchanges without the arbitration of money are called barter exchanges.
Barter exchanges become extremely difficult in large economies because of the high costs people would have to incur looking for suitable persons to exchange their surpluses with.
Money also acts as a convenient unit of account. The value of all goods and services can be expressed in monetary units.
About two-third of the total population in India lives in villages; so, integrated rural development will lead to the nation’s development.
Infrastructure is an indispensable tool for the development of an economy, as it facilitates supporting services, such as −
Infrastructure facilitates not only economic development of a nation, but also improves the overall quality of life (of the people).
The motive behind working is not only to earn for ourselves, but also to support our dependents.
Food Security is a comprehensive term that includes:
Availability
Accessibility
Affordability of food for all
Availability of Food means, there should be enough food for everyone irrespective of his or her income; no one should starve (from hunger). It also includes the availability of food in government’s stock.
Poverty in India is deep rooted. The 200 years under British further intensified it.
After independence, several programs have been brought forward through Five-Year Plans in an attempt to alleviate poverty.
The economic wealth or well-being of a country does not only depend upon the possession of resources, it also depends upon the optimum utilization of resources is more important.
The consumer may refer to an individual or enterprise that purchases goods and services for their personal use or for industrial or household use.
Knowledge is the most significant and valuable property of a human being.
Human resource has a great contribution to the Gross National Income.
Human resources development is the process of increasing the knowledge, the skills, and the capacities of all the people in a society. It is the accumulation of human capital.
Hauser and Duncan defined Demography as the study of the size, territorial distribution, and composition of population, changes therein, and the components of such changes.
Economy is normally categorized into three sectors namely:
After independence, one of the most difficult choices that the leaders had to make was to decide the type of economic system that was capable enough to promote welfare equally across the country.
Among different types of economic system, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, suggested Socialist Economy; however, it was not the same that was practiced in the USSR.
To understand the present level of the Indian economy, it is important to understand the economic system of India during the British rule and post-independence economic development policies.