Discussion Assignment

ECONOMIC GROWTH EASILY EXPLAINED

Female Speaker

Growth is everywhere. A tree grows from a seed to a plant. And the economy grows, too. But how do we

measure economic growth?

The value of all the products manufactured and sold in a country of the course of one year along with

everything that people do and get paid for, or that amounts to the gross domestic product. When people earn

more money and then buy more products and services, the economy grows.

Politicians also want to see the economy grow. That is why they work toward achieving greater employment,

stable prices, and a balance between imported and exported goods.

More growth means more money, but for whom? The common belief that greater wealth means greater

prosperity for all does not reflect reality. It all depends on how the money is distributed. Often when an

economy grows very quickly, that distribution is very unequal. But is there a point when an economy has finally

matured?

The resources that industry requires to grow are limited and the need for raw materials often does not take

nature into account. Since the 1970s, some economists have been warning about the limits of growth. They

suggest that quality of life should also factor into the equation along with material growth.

In Bhutan, a country in the Himalayas, that is already the case. Their gross national happiness is measured. In

addition to income, it is made up of how healthy people and nature are as well as the opportunities people

have in life and how at ease they feel in society. Economic growth and contentment have the same value.

Germany is also discussing a new measure of prosperity with some politicians calling for the inclusion of social

and ecological aspects. Even if we are still searching for a solution, more and more people are starting to

understand that the economy can only grow over the long-term if it also respects a person's basic means of

existence.

REFERENCES Economic Growth Easily Explained

L i c e n s e d u n d e r a C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s A t t r i b u t i o n 3 . 0 L i c e n s e .

Page 1 of 1Economic Growth Easily Explained Transcript

1/23/2018http://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/mba6008/EconomicGrowth_transcript/transcript.html