= Development as Freedom =

'''Development as Freedom''' (ISBN: 9780385720274) was written by Amartya Sen in 1999.

The book is largely an explanation of the role freedom plays in development. Two aspects: a primary end or '''constitutive role''' and a principle means or '''instrumental role'''.

In terms of the constitutive: Freedoms necessarily come from a confluence of processes and opportunities.

In terms of an instrumental role: The author creates categories of
 * economic freedom
 * political freedom
 * social opportunity
 * transparency guarantees
 * protective security
The author discusses how these facets of freedom feed into development.

The author discusses his idea of '''missing women''': based on life expectancy and fertility rates, there should be more women present in the modern population. The gap seen in many underdeveloped nations is the result of "excess mortality and artificially lower survival rates" (p.104).



== Reading Notes ==

The author has a bad habit of straw men and false dichotomies. The worst part is that the author later fleshes out the theory with decent arguments.

For example, there are some straw man arguments in the introduction and first chapter along the lines of 'what if a dictatorship led to the exact same economic outcomes'. But this same concept is later explored in light of serious research like [[TimeOnTheCross|the work of Foley and Engerman]].

As another, the author suggests that the only choices for evaluating development are between individual freedom and tradition. This, despite earlier discussion of evaluating development in terms of...
 * economic output (GDP)
 * individual economic freedom in a free market, wherein they can obtain whatever they value most
The author dismissed those quickly. Economic and social freedoms are a complex and dynamic system. The author suggests that causation, as measured in units of relative development and deprivation, exists in both directions.

The instrumental categories really don't matter. Most of the discussion is qualitative and anecdotal, there isn't any rigorous quantitative analysis. They do provide a neat framework through which case studies can be analyzed.



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