Factors Affecting Economic Growth

904 Words4 Pages
First, we review what is known about development, both social and economic. The perspective that we take upon this is closely similar to the view that we advance elsewhere about the fundamentals behind economic growth anywhere: that this is a manifestation of the working of a complex series of interlocking systems, of which the economic component is an essential part. There is, however, a long way to go in the development of these systems. In purely economic terms, the poorest 80% of the world's populations created around 2.6% of the tradable wealth in 1960. By 1980, this had fallen to 1.1%, and appears to be around 0.9% of all value added at the turn of the century. Today, around 1.2 billion people inhabit the wealthy nations, but around the same number live on less than US$1 per day. About the same number lack access to safe water and twice as many live without adequate sanitation. Achieving anything resembling catch-up is, evidently, some way off. Success stories such as Singapore and Hong Kong stem from a rich history of complex institutions, human resource and the pursuit of the best. However, the key limits to creating a more complex framework within which to generate wealth seems limited more by internal institutional issues than by factors such as capital or human resource. Second, we consider the relationship between development and sustainability. We do this in the light of the growth in population, which will rise from something over 6 billion in 2000 to, perhaps, 8 bn by 2020. The relations between the poor and the rich will be closer-coupled than ever before in history. The relationship will remain lopsided insofar as wealth, power and access to knowledge will also be asymmetrical. Each will, however, want things of the other and both will have the capacity to do the other harm. Disparities and similarities. There are various ways of segmenting

More about Factors Affecting Economic Growth

Open Document