Explain the Reasons for Differences Between Levels of Development Between Economies, and Discuss the Significance of Inequality in the Global Economy.

Economic development is an extensive measure of welfare within a nation. It is typically measured in terms of jobs and income and also takes into ac count the improvements in human development, education, health and environmental sustainability. The resources in a country determines the different stages of economic development.

The differences between the level of development between economies is determined through the Human Development Index which include the levels of life expectancy at birth, the levels of educational attainment and the Gross Domestic Product per capita. The HDI and GDP distinguishes the difference between the growth and development of countries across the globe. Although some countries had similar HDI levels their income levels had a great contrast. This reveals that high levels of inequality is the result of income not being evenly distributed.

In 2009 Tajikistan had an HDI rank 30 places higher then their GDP rank. In order for a country to have high levels of development it needs to have high rates of both the per capita and human development.

However HDI is not the only measure used to calculate a countries development, it can also be calculated through the Genuine Progress Indicator which evaluates the long term sustainability. So countries with higher levels of production may affect the well-being if it gets to the point where it starts to decrease natural resources.

The Happy Planet Index measures the the countries performance on maintaining a balance of human development and environmental sustainability this method is calculated by through life expectancy rates and the country's per capita ecological footprint.