Economics normally view development purely in terms of ideas and concepts like accumulation, Gross National Product, changes in occupational structure etc. These are the criteria the economists apply to measure development aiming at determining the magnitude and rate of changes in these figures. The usual methods of graphing them in the form of complex tables, mathematical formulae to produce per capita income, growth and so on. To the average common these figures are sacrosanct and a valid measure of development who tend to overlook the deficiency in portraying reality in such facts and figures.

The broader reality may be more than this. It may not be valid to define development in terms of these alone and it would be grossly fallacious to assume that the origins, the preconditions, the objectives, the very nature of the development processes can be explained solely within the framework of economic analysis. Economic relation are essentially social relations and excluding the entire social system in economic studies would severely compromise with our perspectives and objectives. As the production and distribution of goods by the people are determined, apart from the economic considerations, by the value and political systems prevalent at any point of time.

The very assumption that people enter into economic relations as carefully calculating and freely contracting individuals is far from correct While deciding on establishing economic relationships in the pursuit of power, control and economic benefits, the people are also guided by factors like privilege, prestige and outlook towards fellow human relationship. If the economic considerations do play a significant role and regarded as predominant and considered as the base, the structure of all customs, traditions, beliefs and morals which are thought to reinforce the economic base . Thus subordinating them to the economic motives which may not be completely true. Economic factors can not be considered independent of the prevalent ideology which encompasses the entire phenomena of society, its art, its culture, its moral attitudes etc. Thus, to maintain a proposition that economic factors alone are predominant would be too rigid and glossing over the fact that it is basically a lively interaction between the structure and the base.