Question

Do initiatives within individual countries strengthen or weaken the global economy? You can think of this another way: Imagine you're on a basketball team. One of your teammates has been secretly developing a sure method of making free throws at night after your team practices have ended, because she wants to win a free-throw contest at the end of the school year. Does this help the team succeed? Does it help the team relationship?

Answer 1

Any kind of effort that involves the development of a country will end up benefitting the global community as a whole. Every country offers a set of resources or services that are beneficial for the rest of the world. For example,  efforts are set in order to improve the output of the industry of an oil producing country. This will eventually benefit the rest of the world, as it would guarantee the supply of oil for the forthcoming years.

Regarding the example in the question, regardless of the fact that my teammate is practicing in order to win a free-throw contest, his shot improvement will ultimately benefit the team throughout the season, as our chances of winning each game increase. A successive chain of successes contributes to the fortification of the relationship among the teammates.