Is self-suffiency the road to poverty?

Question

no its for my economics class

Answer 1

If by "self-sufficiency" you mean everyone growing their own food, then yes.

Answer 2

Obviously these people are not economists and dont listen to a word these highschool students have said. =)

Self-suffiency does not work well (a closed economy). Take for example communist countries. They have never and will never do well. I shall go into these reasons below. Another reason I will look into is comparaitive advantage which will tie into my first point.

A closed Economy.

Becase a country can support itself does not mean it is all flowers and sweets. Because there is no international competition on the consumer market, the quality of products is poor. Take example USSR. I remember my English teacher in highschool taking over dozens of pairs of jeans to give to her family over there. Why? Because the quality of jeans were so poor they would fall apart in weeks. A perfect example of a country that is "self suffient".

It may actually cost the country more to consume goods if no trade was implemented. If country A has a comparaitive advantage in producing product A over what country B can do, country b sould import this product and export a product they have comparitive advantage with to country A or another country. Simply put, if it costs country A (a closed economy) $100 dollars a ton to produce grain while country B can export it for $40 a ton, country A has lost $60 per ton opportunity cost.

Another area that is that of job advancement and R&D (research and development) developments domestic companies would take. Because there is no competition, why improve a product when it is selling well? And because there are no social tech advancement, country A will fall behind the rest of the world. As they fall behind, the standard of living will drop in relation to other nations because country A's standard of living will remain for the most part constant.

Closed economys are, in actual fact, like countrys in the middle ages. No advancement socially and economically. So in closing, yes self-suffiency surrounding the current economic situation of all countries around the world would lead to or has lead to poverty. Perhaps in the future this may not be the case!!

Answer 3

Since this is an economics question then the answer is in
comparative advantage. A country that trades with another country, even if they produce everything they need, does better by switching production to those things that they produce most efficiently and trading for the other products.

A closed economy with no trade may not lead to poverty, but it will not do nearly as well as those that open their borders.

The same is true indivdually. There, specialization of labour creates more productivity. By specializing, those with specific talents are able to produce at a higher level than those that don't. They can trade off that excess production for other needed goods. In today's terms that means that if you have a talent at making pizza but are a lousy mechanic, you would become a pizza maker and work an extra few hours to pay a mechanic to fix your car. The amount you make at pizza making far exceeds the money you'd 'save' by trying to fix the car and ending up with a broken finger and paying for the repairs anyway.

Peace

Answer 4

No and Yes. Self sufficiency is basic concept in certain areas essentials like agriculture, Clothing and Housing. Once we attain the target there is a danger of complacence setting in., which will kill the development.

Answer 5

No! It is the road to integrity and independence.

Not only for each person on an individual level, but also for the country.

Of course on a government level, we are also interdependent on other countries.

But that could not happen if we didn't put self sufficientcy first.

So, I am curious? What has given you this idea?

No offense, but I hope no one is teaching this backward stuff. No, but believing that could be the road to insanity!

Answer 6

If you mean trying to farm your own food and raise your own animals.. probably because one bad harvest could starve your family, and you'd never make enough money to pay your bills.

If you mean living on your own/ supporting yourself... Yes and no. It will make you poor if you are lazy and cannot budget as you will soon find your bills to be surplus and your funds to be little at best. If you are willing to do what it takes to support yourself, then depending on what kind of job and what salary it holds you probably wont be a millionaire but you wont go hungry.

Answer 7

Government interference the road to poverty.

Answer 8

could be both the road to posterity or poverty. You can accomplish alot by yourself but if you fail you have no safety net. It's cheaper, faster and easyier to do it all by yourself but you risk lossing everything.

Answer 9

No, you becomes self reliant, and self supporting.

Answer 10

SELF-SUFFICIENCY leads to PERSONAL LIBERTY, PERSONAL WEALTH, SELF-RELIANCE, INDEPENDENCE and PERSONAL FREEDOM..