Standard of living

By standard of living we mean the degree or extent to which we satisfy our needs or wants. In the olden days, the basic needs were food, shelter and clothing. Today, all countries of West Africa have passed that level. Wants are now satisfied beyond these three basic needs. For example, our basic wants are now better satisfied. The foods we eat are now richer and in greater variety. Most families now eat bread and eggs and drink tea or coffee as breakfast. In the past, these would have been found in only very few houses in West Africa. The clothes we wear are more fanciful, more elaborate and elegant, and the houses we live in are far more superior and more comfortable than those enjoyed by our grandfathers. But in addition to all these, we now enjoy more luxury than our forefathers did. We now have wireless radio and coloured television sets, video and cassette recorders. We can cover a great deal of distance in a very short time by air. Also today, better education and medical facilities are now making it possible to live well and longer. We now also enjoy a faster means of communication or sending messages. We have the telephone, the Internet and the global system of mobile communication. All these, put together, determine the standard of living. So when we say that a country is poor, we are saying that the standard of living in that country, compared with the standard of living in some other countries, is low. Our knowledge about the standard of living in other countries is now better. Not only is it now comparatively easier to travel, but advancement in the publishing industry has made it possible and easier to read books about other countries.
The economics of West Africa is concerned with the nature and causes, that is the determinants of the standard of living in West African countries. Economics is concerned with explanation and discussion, with analysis and not with mere description. It answers questions beginning with "why" rather than "how". It does not answer in the form of "what should be done about it? Rather, it discusses the probable effects of doing this or doing that and thereby helps people to form their own opinion.

Comments

Natural soil

Natural soils are influenced by rainfall and temperature,heavy rain causes the soil to become leached. High temperatures increase the rate of decomposition of organic matter in the soil, thereby lowering its humus content. Thus, climatic conditions tend to produce poor soils in the tropics and rich soils in the temperate regions. Besides climate and vegetation, the parent rock material also contributes to the quality of the soil. For example volcanic rocks tend to produce fertile soils. Laterite, a red soil which is a product of leaching, is commonly found in the tropics. It is composed mainly of iron and aluminium compounds,and poor in humus and essential plant nutrients, such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. The black and brown soil of the temperate grasslands are the world's richest soils, with a high mineral and humus content. The light coloured desert soils tend to be very rich in minerals but have a low humus content. Mainly the soils ar...

READING AND UNDERSTANDING

All reading is geared to understanding. There would be no point in reading if we did not understand what we are reading. However there are many different obstacles in the way of easy understanding of a passage. It is your task as a reader to actively seek to break down the barriers to understanding. One block to understanding is caused by references in the passage to things that are outside it. Pronoun are the first examples of words that refer to people and objects. Sometimes, it is easy to follow the reference at other times, it is more difficult. Look at the opening sentence of the passage you've just read that begins this way "She was waiting for us:small, dowdy, dirty..." Who was waiting? Who was the person waiting for? (Perhaps you would also like to know why she was waiting.)Answers to these questions will surely help you to understand and thus follow the reference. The first thing to do is to ask questions like the ones we have just asked and to read t...

What do women really want?

What men want is thought to be understood quite well. In general, their sexual desire is orderly, consistent, and narrowly directed. A heterosexual man is heterosexual. If you show him heterosexual sex, his sexual physiology and subjective, reported desire rise in tandem. Homosexual sex will leave him cold both physically and emotionally. For men, there is an excellent match between physiological arousal (as measured by penile tumescence) and level of reported desire. Viagra’s success demonstrates the simplicity of the male mechanism. Viagra does not target desire, but works by increasing genital blood flow, allowing erection. This, apparently, is all that is needed in many cases. As the penis rises, desire is already waiting. For women, the story is different. The female body, studies show , likes everything, or at least responds to everything (or does not know what it likes, some cynics will say). Female physiological arousal (as measured by vaginal lu...

Newsflashtalk.com Lifestyle, learning, health and food.

Search This Blog