Question

After reading Chapter 10 (Essentials of Economics) and Chapters 15/16 (Economics in One Lesson), In one to two single spaced pages, choose either the Anti-growth view of economics or the Economic growth view and discuss Whether this is desirable and sustainable. I understand if you did not read those chapters, but please literally anything will help. That explains which is desirable and sustainable out of the two.

Answer 1

Economic Growth essentially means the increase in goods and services produced within a nation in a period of time. Economic Growth is measured with GDP as an official base.

Now, Economic Growth can be achieved in ways that have different impacts. These methods come down to the growth period that an economy requires to undergo so that National Income and Output can truely rise. Growth can either be done through achieving economically desirable objectives ( rapid growth ) or through a sustainable approach.

Achieving economic growth through accomplishing desirable objectives are essential for a nation that is aiming to grow within the short run. By running the economy at its maximum potential , output rate , employment rate and as a result growth rate in terms of productivity and income would increase. Yet what defines economic welfare is the summation of economic growth and social welfare. By running the economy to its fullest , social welfare is brought down as almost all resources are used thus leaving not much for the future. Pollution and emission are higher , factory wastes and toxic wastes would be difficult to dispose given the increased volume. Recently many economists are arguing to shift focus on measures of well-being . Despite all the growth achieved in the last 60 years , about 45 million Americans are in poverty and suffer from unemployment , lack of healthcare, and proper housing facilities. ( Courtesy : The Atlantic )  

Maximising Growth doesn't necessarily help people and also increases costs for meeting the demands pushed by increasing economic growth objectives. For an instance , Industries and Business request fewer regulations in production inorder to produce at a higher rate , thus resulting in higher levels of pollution , workplace accidents and working hours. Thus these regulations have an adverse effect on natural resource availabilty , pollution and toxicity in natural resources, climate and global warming.

So in such a situation comes a solution of sustainable economic growth which provides a growth rate that can be maintained without having any adverse environmental effects and can prevent significant economic problems for the future generation. It calls for a trade-off between higher growth rates to accomplish economic objectives in the short run and a stable growth rate throught the long run. Sustainable Growth becomes more viable in situations growth is necessary without depleting essential resources such as minerals , oil etc and create environmental degradation.

Choice between these two methods of economic growth depends on many factors such as availability of resources , population in the nation , technology available in the nation , state of the economy , public health and infrastructural facilities . A country that is under developed , lacks proper public facilities and overall faces a lot of economic problems such as poverty , unemployment etc requires to implement policies that are able to achieve Desirable Economic Objectives in the short run.

For a nation which is devoloped and provides basic public facilities to its general population , Sustainable Economic Growth is much more attractive inorder to achieve growth rate and to maintain all resources for the future in the long run.

For a nation where the economy is in the developing stage, the choice between Sustainable Growth or Rapid Growth poses as a dilemma for economic policy makers as well as for the leaders of the nation. In conclusion , the methods of growth that is desirable depends on many factors that are present for the nation's growth rate policy decisions and an ideal method that is feasible and possible is to be selected whether it is focused on Sustainable Growth or Rapid Growth.