The Desirability of Economic Growth
The Benefits of Economic Growth
===============================
1. Economic growth means that real GDP has increased and therefore leads to an improvement in the material standard of living. This means that individuals have higher levels of real purchasing power enabling them to buy a greater volume of goods and services - increasing economic welfare ( bearing in mind individuals have unlimited wants ).
For instance, as western economies have grown over the decades consider the changes in 'material ownership' of products such as ownership rates of cars, dishwashers, housing, the number of foreign holidays taken - all of which have continued to increase as real spending power has grown.
…show more content…
)
The Costs of Economic Growth
============================
1. Pursuing economic growth policies can have some drawbacks, affecting the quality of life. Individuals will be required in a growing economy to learn new skills, be more flexible and often be more occupationally and geographically mobile ( ie prepared to move from one type of job to another, as well as be prepared to move location). The pace of work is thought to be likely to increase, all combining to add stresses to the individual. It has often be claimed that the desire for faster economic growth is creating a more hectic lifestyle - possibly offering less leisure time rather than more !
2. With economic growth comes a growth in consumption, more resources are needed reducing the remaining supply of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels ( oil, gas and coal ), metal ores and other natural resources. As these are used up at a faster rate, there are fewer supplies left for future generations. Thus the finite pool is more rapidly becoming exhausted. The growing affluence of consumers has led to for instance, the ever increasing rates of depletion of rain forests across the world.
3. With growth comes the creation of new, and expansion of, existing businesses. These produce a number of so-called external costs or negative externalities. These are the wider spill over costs
== == == == ==
3. A growing economy means that the economy is producing more and more “stuff”, either because it has more resources (workers), or uses those resources more productively (smarter, better workers, working with better machines and systems). A growing economy that produces more and
With the upward flow of money, the quality of life improves because of the result of it. New houses, new market centers, new schools, and new products are all part of a country that has a surge of mass consumption. (From Town Center to Shopping Center)
Irrespective of which country you belong to, the best way to assess economic goals is to stop pause and look at where the
To understand limits to economic growth you must know the meaning of economic growth. Economic growth is a sustained expansion of production possibilities measured as the increase in real GDP over a given period (Rittenberg, L. & Tregarthen, T.). The country’s inhabitants is now much larger and is living longer, which many programs such as social security and military retirement may not be prepared for. Many source of economic growth can be link to improvements in technology and increase rate of productive with less employees. Only thing that can limit production would be the lack of capital or resources.
Economic growth is best defined as a long-term expansion of the productive potential of the economy. Sustained economic growth should lead higher real living standards and rising employment. Short term growth is measured by the annual % change in real GDP.
== == == == ==
The revenues are not enough to provide for the population growth. This affects families to save less because they are spending all of their income on basic needs and cannot afford to educate their children, which produces poverty in the next generation. This results in low qualification and low chance of employment for children when they reach the working age. Due to this, industries and services cannot develop. With the increase of population, the volume of employment and unemployment increases. The number of unemployed depends on the size of the active population called the Labour Force. If the growth rate of the population is higher than the job opportunities available to the labour force, unemployment will occur. When there is an increase in population, society is solely focused on providing the basic needs. This results in the lack of obtaining education and because of this they cannot help the economy expand. Also, there are more consumers with the increase of population than producers, causing the restriction of economic expansion.
First of all, economic growth is one of the macroeconomic objectives that the government wants to achieve as a primary goal and it happens when there is a rise in the enlarged product of population and per capita consumption. According to Hoover (2011), economic growth is the total material output of good values and service values in the market, measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a specific period of time. The growth of GDP is measured by excluding intermediate consumptions (production and resale), purely financial transactions and second-hand sales, which prevents double counting. To obtain an accurate value of economic growth, GDP needs to include the total output of expenditures and incomes.
Another desirable effect of economic growth is increased tax revenue, the government receives more money from tax payers with out having to increase tax rates. If people are earning more, the more money they will pay in tax, the more money companies make the more tax they must pay to the government. The more money the government gains in tax revenue the more they can do to improve the country, they can invest in transport and infrastructure, they can make improvements to health care and they may even need to employ more people further reducing unemployment.
1. What components of GDP (if any) would each of the following transactions affect? What will happen to GDP? Explain.
“Since the beginning of the 20th century, global life expectancy has increased by 118%, infant mortality has declined by 81%, per person income has improved by 403% (in real dollars), all while human population has increased by more than 4x from 1.7 billion to 7.1 billion” (Allis). From that quote, it is shown that the statistics revolving around life have all improved. Education has become a factor that the majority of the population has access to. “The rates of literacy have also risen, going from 42% in 1900, to 84% in 2012; doubling themselves in a little over a century” (Allis). “According to a Harvard study, higher levels of education result in economic growth” (Aghion, Boustan, Hoxby, Vandenbussche). Following with this idea, the gross domestic product (GDP), the main indicator of the standing of an economy, has steadily been on the rise. The GDP per capita started at about $15,000 in 1950 and has reached a staggering $53,000 today” (Roser). This basically means that the total value of all produced goods in the world divided by the population has risen by that much. “The average world income per person has also reached a pinnacle $10,070- five times that of a century ago. Reducing death and disease and incomes rising sufficiently to enable access to food, water, shelter, sanitation, healthcare, and electricity increases the quality of
In macroeconomics, a large portion of discussion is devoted to economic growth. The output of the national economy as a whole represents our average access to goods and services. The long-run growth of the recent past represents everything from increase in access to running water and electricity to development of personal computers and the Internet. In short, it describes the heightened standard of living we enjoy today. Endogenous growth theory postulates that human capital and technology are central to enabling this growth. Human capital describes the stock of knowledge, habits, and social and personality attributes, including creativity and innovative ability. Paul Romer has made significant contributions to developing endogenous growth
Eyeballing any cross sectional data on growth across countries shows that countries grow at different rates. Many theories try to explain this phenomenon with emphasis with capital accumulation being one of them. I will start by developing the standard neoclassical growth model as developed by Solow(1956)[1]. I will then proceed to discuss the extensions that have been made to this basic model in an attempt to better understand actual growth figures, for e.g. the standard neoclassical model cannot explain the magnitude of international differences in growth rates. Mankiw[2] points out that “the model can explain
Economic growth refers to the rate of increase in the total production of goods and services within an economy. Economic growth increases the productivity capacity of an economy, thereby allowing more wants to be satisfied. A growing economy increases employment opportunities, stimulates business enterprise and innovation. A sustained economic growth is fundamental to any nation wishing to raise its standard of living and provide a greater well being for all. Gross domestic product (GDP) is the monetary value of all final goods and services produced over a year. It is the total value of production within the economy. The total value of production is the total value of the final goods or services less the cost of