Information » Environment » People » Economic Growth and Development
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Economic growth is the increase in the amount of money a country makes. The more money a country makes beyond what is needed for basic survival, the more money it has to spend on things such as healthcare, education or industry
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It is widely agreed that economic growth and development of a country can improve people's standards of living
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However, economic growth does not automatically mean a rise in standards of living for everyone, as sometimes the wealth of a country is not evenly shared
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Economies currently growing rapidly include China and India
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Some economic growth has implications for environmental issues such as climate change. China, for example, has a poor track record for pollution levels
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If a country is not politically stable, economic growth can often be affected, which is often why some poor countries find it hard to grow quickly
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Development is slightly different from economic growth, and is concerned with social improvements such as availability of education and healthcare
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Some people have started to criticise economic growth as a simple indicator of development and think that other factors such as the quality of living should be taken into account
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Many poor countries have borrowed large amounts of money from richer countries to try and encourage economic growth
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Richer countries also have debt, as borrowing money is a vital way of encouraging economic growth. Britain borrowed money from the USA after the Second World War and only finished paying it off in 2006
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Some countries have to use all the money they make from economic growth on the repayment of debts to western countries. Togo, an African country, spends 83 per cent of its national income on debt repayment
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There have been high profile campaigns which call for a cancellation of the debt of poor countries to rich countries. Many people believe that this will help poorer countries to develop
