7/30/2019 National Economic Development Goals and Objectives
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National Economic Development Goals and Objectives:
1. Full employment Every year, at least half-a-million college
graduates, besides the unschooled who decideto work, are formally
joining the countrys labor force. There must, therefore, be new
employmentopportunities created for them so that unemployment would
not soar to alarming proportions. The labor force is
composed of the fully employed, underemployed, and unemployed.
The fully employed are those whose
qualifications fit into their jobs, work full-time and are
compensated as prescribed by law. The underemployed
are those whose qualifications are greater than what is required
by their jobs. Since they are compensated in
accordance with their jobs and not with their greater
qualifications, they are therefore said to be underpaid. The
unemployed are those who are actively looking for jobs, but find
none. Dependents are those who do notbother to find jobs. Because
of population explosion, job search has become a long-term problem,
not anymore
a short-term one. The challenge to todays graduates is not
anymore to apply for jobs but to create these
because modern information and communication technology has
enabled them to make full use of their vigor,
dynamism, and creativity as young people of todays
generation.
2. Full production If left unchecked, population tends to
multiply geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8, 16,etc.) whileresources can
only grow arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,etc.) within a certain
period of time, as postulated by
Thomas Robert Malthus, hence, production of goods and services
has to be maximized to cope with population
explosion. This should especially happen in the Philippines
which ranks around 17th in the world in terms of
population size but runs almost 7th in population growth rate.
Land, labor, capital and entrepreneur should be
fully utilized in the production of goods and services to
support the increasing needs and wants of the people.
3. Price stability Because of scarcity, countries in the world
are forced to buy from other countries the goods andservices that
they lack. They cannot afford not to do this, even if prices soar,
because the more that their
economies will suffer if they wont. Price increases are,
therefore, a reality that everybody has to bear. Price
stability as an economic goal has to accept the reality that
prices increase, but the increase has to be within the
reasonable reach of the average consumer.
4. Rapid economic growth Economic growth (wage and salary
increases, etc.) is not good enough because itmay be beaten by a
higher inflation rate and the increasing expenditures in the
family. It must be rapid in that
it should outpace inflation and rising family expenses. When
this happens, families may be able to save and/orestablish other
sources of income, paving the way for the attainment of economic
development (healthier
citizenry, longer lifespan, more peaceful and stable
communities, more available goods and services, higher
standard of living). There can be economic growth without
economic development, but there cannot be
economic development without economic growth.
5. Equitable distribution of income From each according to ones
capacity, to each according to ones needs.This is the principle of
equity in economics. Resources must be distributed equitably, not
equally, because wehave different and varying contributions to
society. Some contribute more, others less, and there are those
who
even do more harm than good to society. Those who contribute to
societys welfare should be rewarded
while those who do harm must be punished, like what is done to
criminals. Difficult jobs, not the easy ones,
should be compensated more. Ironically, sometimes the opposite
happens, hence, it should be corrected.
6. Economic freedom This is the right of every individual to
engage in an economic activity of his/her ownchoice, whether good
or evil, one which he/she believes can give him/her his/her desired
income. Since itis ones choice, one should be responsible whatever
its consequences may be. If one chooses an economic
activity which is good and in accordance with law, one dignifies
himself/herself as a human being. If one,
knowing what is good and evil, resorts to an activity in
violation of law, one is liable for its consequences.
Whatever our familys economic status is, it is the result of how
past generations in our family exercised their
economic freedom. How we will exercise our economic freedom
today will also determine the economic status
of the family we will establish in the future. We must,
therefore, exercise our economic freedom responsibly.
7. Economic efficiency The factors of production in society must
be used in such a way that production ismaximized and production
cost or waste is minimized if not totally eradicated.
8. Economic security - We will not stay young, strong and
healthy forever. Someday we will grow old, weak,and sickly. One who
is gainfully employed today might find himself jobless tomorrow. A
very healthy person
could meet an accident that will paralyze him/her. The untimely
death of a breadwinner will certainly bring
untold economic problems to a family unprepared for such a
tragedy. We should, therefore, save resources
because the future is uncertain.
9. Favorable balance of trade International trade happens when
we export goods and services to other countries,while we import
from them. To be favorable to a country, the value of its exports
should outweigh the value of
its imports within a certain period. This results to a surplus
situation. It is unfavorable when the opposite
happens. There is a deficit when the value of imports outweighs
the value of exports. Because of scarcity of
resources, a country cannot avoid buying goods and services from
other countries. A country buys from
another country goods which it needs but it cannot produce due
to scarcity of resources. A country may also
buy from another country goods which would cost less when
imported than when produced locally. Balance of
trade involves goods primarily while balance of payments
involves both goods and services.
