Reimagining Development – The Journey Begins
By Vagisha I. Gunasekara -June 14, 2013
Dr. Vagisha Gunasekara
The Symposium
Since the beginning of Development Economics, the notion that economic growth by itself with a correlative increase in the amount of goods and services produced and consumed within a country, is a sufficient condition for development, has been one accepted and propagated by the mainstream. For far too long it was given that the nations of the global South must “grow” and “develop”; and government policy is often based on the premise that higher growth rates and greater affluence are conducive to development and wellbeing – if the GDP is rising, we should all be better off, in every sense. However, can we equate economic growth with development and the wellbeing of citizens? Or should we recalibrate our idea of development? These were the fundamental questions that the Center for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) put forth in the 11thAnnual Symposium – Reimagining Development.
