Develop the argument that certain kinds of cultures, political and economic systems are, by their nature, resistant to economic development through international trade.
In this modern age of globalization, where capital can cross the national borders so easily and the investment funds can be pulled from one country to another in order to respond to new business opportunities, economic development is attainable in the most of the countries. However, the economic development depends on the certain kinds of cultures, political and economic systems. In general for any country to reach an economic development there are few conditions to be met such as stable government, no corruption and friendly culture. In other words, economic development is “affected by those intangibles that are collectively known as culture” (Francis & Hezel). Max Weber in the early 20th century offered a different view on how cultural and even religious values impact the economic output. “He argued that the Protestant work ethic, supported by Reformation teachings that the pursuit of wealth was a duty, inculcated the virtues needed for maximum economic productivity. For this reason, Protestants were more productive than Catholics throughout Europe-just think of Germany and Great Britain, for instance, compared to Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy in his day.” (Francis & Hezel).
The question is why some countries do very well, while others fail to develop, even when there are help to support their development? For example the African nations, are given so much aid to develop their economy and still their economy is not developing. Another example is the Philippines and Indonesia and the Philippines where there is “a strong resource base and a well educated population” ( Francis & Hezel), and still there is no movement in the economic development. The answer is that all countries have different