Economics per se is the study, wherein a society finds ways to satisfy unlimited wants and scarce resources for the betterment of its people. Thus,making it an international matter that needs further attention because International Economics is considered a crucial spectrum in this era of globalization. The law of supply and demand gave birth to such theories regarding International Economics. Globalization is the linchpin for Industrial Revolution which pits every country in competition with its own economy. International Economics has a hierarchy that branches out into three divisions.
Namely: The First World, Second World, and Third World countries. Each world is integrated with each other. Which is either complements its economy or the other degrades the other. The First World countries include: Western Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and North America. Obviously, such countries have a high standard of living and advance in technology as well, that makes them more progressive than the others. With this in mind, First World countries have a greater grasp on the world’s international trade market.
Figuratively, they trample on Second and Third world countries with their sheer economic capacity. Most First World countries are governed by democratic rule. This implies that their economies are stable due to the fact that their government is apt in order for them to progress sporadically. A citizen’s behavior living in a First World country has an effect on the country’s progress as well. If a person is compensated properly by his employer, chances are they will strive for more progress and will not be complacent. The behavior of a person reflects the country where he hails from.
That means it will connote a country’s economic stability. First World countries are not complacent in terms of development. It is a must for them to strive for enough progress, so as to not to experience deliberate inflation. First World countries are complemented by the Second and Third World countries yet they seldom complement them as well. First World economies are stable due to market economies which instigated “The Hierarchy of Worlds”. The sphere of influence of the Soviet Nation has come up with the Second World country. Such countries are bound by communist rule.
Communist countries are bound by the rule that all citizens have to live on a commensurate lifestyle. The term “Second World” may or may not also imply that the leadership of Communist countries were at odds with Moscow after the Sino-Soviet split, such as Albania, and Yugoslavia. The Warsaw Pact came up with satellite governments. The emancipation from Soviet Union of China considers itself a Third World country yet remained a Communist rule. North Korea upholds an isolationist policy that even distances itself from both China and Soviet Union.
There were a number of countries which did not fit comfortably into this deliberate partitioning of the world, including Switzerland, Sweden, and the Republic of Ireland, who chose to remain neutral. Second World countries as of the moment have no bearing on the world’s Industrial Revolution which makes them neutral at some aspects. Yet Second World countries have planned economies. Their economies are subjective and spontaneous rather than objective and planned like those of the First World economies. The decline of communism and the demise of most planned economics has made this distinction largely moot as well.
Furthermore, the term is often used incorrectly to distinguish a moderately developed country. This is most likely related to the misconception that the First World refers to the developed world, the Third World the developing world, and thus the Second World is an intermediate level between the two. To avoid discrepancies, a newer term, Fourth World, was coined to refer to only the most mediocre economy nations, so as to distinguish more developed “third world” nations from completely undeveloped “third world” nations. Third World economies are still neophyte in nature.
They are still developing and need further financial support from First World countries. The term Third World was originally intended to identify the non-aligned nations that gained independence from the colonial rule beginning after World War II from the Western nations and from those that formed the former Eastern bloc, and sometimes more specifically from the United States and from the former Soviet Union, which happens to be First and Second World countries. Most Third World economies are arguably mediocre. Some Third World Countries are from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Third World countries have low standards when it comes to technology and the manner of living. As Expected, Third World economies are characterized as poor, having economies distorted by their dependence on the export of primary products to the developed countries in return for finished products. These countries tend to have high rates of illiteracy, disease, unmonitored population growth and unstable governments. Yet this is a mere stereotype due to the fact that their economies are developing rather than depleting. Nowadays, however, such term is synonymous with countries in the developing world, independent of their political status.
However, there is no objective definition of a Third World Economy and the use of the term remains common. The term Third World is also disliked as it may connote the false notion that those countries are not a part of the global economic system. Even though it is criticized as obsolete, colonialist and inaccurate yet its use continues unabated. It remains, however, that a more politically correct terminology continues to imply a path of progressive industrialization and “economic liberalization” not far removed from the more plainly ideological “Third World”.
Furthermore, it is not apt to assume that “developing countries” are developing at all. Most developing nations, in fact, are not developing in any significant way. There simply is no path of progressive industrialization or economic advancement because everything is tentative in this Industrial Revolution. Finally, a new terminology “Fourth World” is emerging. These countries are the epitome of mediocrity. Their economies cannot be called “economy” at all. They are the least developing countries which are not even considered part of the global economy.
They exhibit the lowest indicators of socio-economic development, with the lowest Human Development Index ratings of all countries in the world. Least developed countries can be distinguished from developing countries, “less developed countries”, “lesser developed countries”, or other terms for countries in the so-called “Third World”. Yet many contemporary scholars argue that “Third World” is obsolete, irrelevant or inaccurate, others may use the term “Fourth World” in reference to least developed countries. The Economic Arena is a broad spectrum, wherein each country’s economy is pitted against each other.
Each country’s economy is not only in competition with other countries but with itself as well. The theory of the “Invisible Hand” is the pseudo-guide for every economy. Economics is a complex topic that is studied constantly and thoroughly. Each economy is never complacent and is always progressing. A country with a complacent economy is likely to succumb to “economic mediocrity” and sheer inflation. It is a must for each country to make the most out of its resources, so as to be at par with every country who intends to engage an economic transaction. International Economics is simply “Survival of the Fittest and the Removal of the Unfit”.