In recent years many commentators, including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, have questioned the equivalence of economic growth with growth in well-being and the quality of people's lives. They point out that wealth creation does not necessarily lead to broader improvements in the quality of life. In numerous cases, nations have similar GDP levels or average income levels, yet differ substantially in levels of national health and education. At the same time, some poorer nations fare better than some richer nations in terms of life expectancy, infant mortality, and other indicators of well-being.
Articles and Papers
Key Documents
Social Watch Report 2006 - Impossible Architecture (2006)
In this annual Social Watch publication, NGOs from all over the world report from their individual countries on progress and government action on social development. In addition to 42 national reports, the publication contains thematic reports mainly looking at development financing, including debt relief, international aid, domestic resources and global taxes. Rather than providing any "particularly original or revolutionary" ideas, the report offers "common sense" responses arguing for example that "taxes should be paid by all, and that those who have more and earn more should pay more."
Social Watch Report 2005 - Roars and Whispers (2005)
The tenth Social Watch Report analyzes and measures nations' pledges to achieve gender equality and eradicate poverty. The 2005 edition pays special attention to the "gap between promises and action." Based on current trends, states will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This publication calls for immediate action by the international community.
Do We Really Want Development? Growth, the World's Hard Drug (August 2004)
This Le Monde Diplomatique article explains that the term "sustainable development" falsely presents economic growth as the solution to both social and environmental problems. "Growth for growth's sake," has in the framework of global market economy become the "opium of the masses," argues the article.
Alternative Poverty Estimates Say Progress Is Too Slow to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 (September 22, 2008)
The Basic Capabilities Index (BCI), released by Social Watch, shows that the vast majority of 176 countries experienced slow progress or even regression in basic social indicators. The BCI provides a general overview of the health status and basic educational performance of each country. Sub-Saharan Africa scored particularly low on the index, and Social Watch says that at this rate the region will not reach an acceptable BCI score before the 23rd century.
China and India: Heartlands of Global Protests (August 7, 2008)
China and India have secured their reputation as global economic powers. However, internal unrest in both countries is mounting because the benefits of the economic growth affect only a small percentage of the populations. In China, this economic discrepancy has resulted in protests against police and other government officials. Meanwhile, in India, politically motivated bombings affect Mumbai and Bangalore. The author argues that world leaders and economists should rethink the dominant economic model because, while it promotes high economic growth rates, it does not take into account rising inequalities between the rich and the poor. (openDemocracy)
Global Slowdown: The LCDs' Sword of Damocles (July 17, 2008)
This World Economy and Development in Brief article states that increased exports and foreign investment have led to strong economic growth in some poorer countries. But, the growth has only benefited a small section of these countries' populations. The 2008 UNCTAD Least Developed Countries Report says that countries should increase public spending through well-targeted programs in areas of primary education and create jobs for their growing populations.
GDP: The Measure and Mismeasure of the Economy (June 30, 2008)
This Canadian Broadcasting Corporation article criticizes world leaders and economists who use Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of quality of life. GDP measures overall output and strength of a country's economy. But, the author says "GDP is a measure of quantity, not quality," as it fails to reflect the income gaps between the rich and the poor. He proposes alternate measures like the UN Human Development Index and the Genuine Progress Indicator that use health, environmental impact and standard of living as indicators of the quality of life.
American Sickness: Diagnosis and Cure (October 16, 2007)
This article focuses on the huge inequalities in the United States. The economic differences are particularly well reflected in statistics on US citizens' health. In the Harlem district of New York, life expectancy of male infants matches that of Belize and Tanzania and the average life expectancy is lower than in Bangladesh. Poverty and job insecurity leave a great number of US citizens without any or sufficient insurance and access to health care in general is often limited. The authors point to success in other industrialized nations and call for higher spending on education and increased levels of taxation to create a more equal society. (openDemocracy)
When Development and Tradition Clash (May 11, 2007)
Violent clashes between Indian farmers and corporations backed by the Indian government reveal "deep underlying problems with…the Western model of modernization," reports the International Herald Tribune. Although politicians argue that the growing private industrial sector will create jobs and promote development, many poor farmers are being forced off their land by government officials, who then sell it for profit to foreign investors. This article calls on India to adequately compensate its citizens for appropriated land and to grant them "a say in the process of development."
Fighting For Air: Frontline of War on Global Warming (March 26, 2007)
This Guardian article argues that Linfen, China, "the most polluted city on earth," symbolizes "the worst side-effects of…breakneck economic growth." Although China and India are two of the world's four biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, both maintain that they must use more energy to stimulate development. Despite the contaminated rivers, melting glaciers, rising temperatures, and increased respiratory diseases in both countries, the article reports that neither is likely to submit to binding commitments to reduce emissions unless the US – the world's "principal polluter" – first agrees to do the same.
Chain-Gang Economics (October 30, 2006)
In this Foreign Policy in Focus piece, Walden Bello argues that the economic relations between China and the US chain the global economy together in a "crisis of overproduction." Restrictive Chinese rules on trade and investment force transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in China to locate the majority of their production processes in the country, making the TNCs major "agents of overinvestment." At the same time, Chinese authorities continue exploiting the country's cheap labor by keeping wages down instead of expanding people's purchasing power. Thus impeding domestic consumption, China has chosen breakneck growth feeding the spending appetite of US consumers over domestic and global stability, argues Bello.
Development Requires Local Empowerment (September 27, 2006)
The 2006 "Least Developed Countries Report" found that although the world's poorest countries have enjoyed the highest growth rates in two decades, human well-being in these mainly African countries has not improved. The author of this Foreign Policy In Focus piece argues that the lack of rural communities' participation in governing their natural resources largely accounts for that imbalance. He warns that initiatives such as the UN Millennium Development Project, the US Millennium Challenge and Oxfam International's "Trade not Aid" campaign will not promote development unless they focus on creating accountable countryside democratic institutions.
Realizing Decent Work in Asia (August-September 2006)
This International Labor Organization (ILO) report highlights how unemployment in Asia has increased despite robust growth in investment, output and productivity. Moreover, since employers continuously fall short of providing "decent work" conditions, employment fails to reduce poverty. One billion "working poor" in Asia live on less than US$2 a day, 330 million of these on less than US$1. The particularly high unemployment rates among the young and a working age population set to grow rapidly over the next decade spurs further concern. On the other hand, the ILO finds Asia has the potential to take the lead on decent job creation.
The Hard Truth Behind Asia's Boom (August 22, 2006)
With 42 percent still living on less than US$2 a day in China and almost half of all children in India undernourished, economic growth has failed to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of impoverished people in these countries. However, as this International Herald Tribune article suggests, economic growth enables governments to tackle the "roots of poverty" by providing health care and education. The author argues that the public must hold policy makers responsible to provide these services as well as address factors that impede the poor's use of them.
Trade on Human Terms: Overview (June 29, 2006)
This United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report summary stresses the importance of the relationship between economic growth and human development. Based on a study of the Asia-Pacific region, UNDP found that free trade has failed to benefit key sectors of society, thus decreasing regional stability. UNDP proposes an eight-point agenda to channel policies dealing with competitiveness, trade, agriculture, jobless growth, taxes, and exchange rates in order to promote a better quality of life for all along with economic expansion.
Least Developed Countries Report 2006 (May 17, 2006)
UNCTAD finds that higher rates of economic growth in many least developed countries (LDCs) have not translated into improved human well-being. The comprehensive 2006 Least Developed Countries Report suggests that LDCs must increase their very low labor productivity to achieve sustained growth and poverty reduction. As 2000-2010 will be the first decade in the LDCs where the economically active population outside agriculture will grow faster than that within, the LDCs must develop competitive businesses in manufacturing and services, says the report. It identifies challenges that LDCs will face in this effort, among them improving physical infrastructure. UNCTAD finds that donors must reallocate aid to address these challenges.
The Hijacking of the Development Debate (Summer 2006)
This World Policy Journal article criticizes Jeffrey Sachs and Thomas Freidman's approach to end poverty, which advocates effective aid and open markets to help poorer nations climb the "development ladder." Donor countries often channel aid in a way that increases income inequalities and, open markets tend to benefit big corporations. To redress this, the alter-globalization movement comprised of farmers, students and environmentalists, promotes development through redistribution of political power and wealth. Contrary to Sachs and Freidman who use monetary values to assess development, the movement uses indicators like democracy, sustainability, food security, and human rights.
Invest Globally, Stagnate Locally (April 2, 2006)
The continuous increase of corporate profits in the US and Europe fails to translate into prosperity for domestic economies and wage earners. Transnational Corporations (TNCs) maintain low wages by constantly threatening to leave the country if wage negotiations do not meet their corporate interests. The article predicts a new rise of "economic nationalism" among rich countries as a reaction to the reluctance of TNCs to pay decent wages to their workers.(New York Times)
Aid Inflows, Debt Relief Yet to Translate into Reduced Poverty (March 20, 2006)
Uganda, as many other sub-Saharan African countries, has achieved increased economic growth accompanied by moderate inflation rates. However, this "macroeconomic stability" has failed to improve the living conditions of the country's poor. At a meeting organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ugandan government officials pointed out that, although the country receives more aid flows "on paper" they have little impact "on the ground." (New Vision)
World Economy Giving Less to Poorest in Spite of Global Poverty Campaign Says New Research (January 23, 2006)
According to a publication of the New Economics Foundation, the world's poorest benefit very little from economic growth. Moreover, "our obsession with growth" fails to provide long-term, environmentally sustainable solutions to people's well being. While economic growth can contribute to better living conditions, the report encourages alternative approaches to global economic challenges.
Growing Dissent (January 23, 2006)
Many economists see growth as the ultimate answer to all problems, including poverty. Nevertheless, the poor's share in its benefits has decreased constantly in recent decades and the environmental costs of growth have steadily grown. This article calls for a new global economic system with a global income distribution arrangement to assure poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. (Guardian)
All Types of Inequality Are Not Created Equal: Divergent Impacts of Inequality on Economic Growth (December 2005)
This report examines the complexities of defining inequality within and between countries. Using ethnic and gender disparities as case examples, the author argues that inequality can lead to short and medium term economic growth and development, but may come at a long run detriment to the marginalized group. The author calls on countries and development agencies to take into account the diversity of economic needs among different sectors of society and to make "growth and equity compatible." (Levy Economics Institute of Bard College)
The Scorecard on Development: 25 Years of Diminished Progress (September 2005)
This report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research compares data on economic growth of the last 25 years (1980-2005) with the previous two decades (1960-1980). Analyzing several social indicators, the report notices a decline in GDP per capita, adult and child life expectancy, school enrollment and so on. In short "a reduced rate of progress over the last 25 years." The authors argue that the prevailing policy model of privatization, liberalization and the free market "could be mistaken."
Not Everyone Celebrates Improved Poverty Statistics (August 23, 2005)
Recent statistics from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) show that in Mexico, the overall poverty level fell from 44.2 to 37 percent between 1992 and 2004. As a result, Mexico should meet the MDG target to halve extreme poverty. Unfortunately, sometimes reality is much more complex than figures. "Poverty is a condition, a global social state that is not modified just because someone earns a few more dollars." (Inter Press Service)
Pollution Poisons China's Progress (July 4, 2005)
No country has lifted more people out of poverty faster than modern China, but the environment seems to be bearing the brunt of the burden of growth. With lax environmental protection and officials more concerned with economic growth than clean water, it doesn't look like things are going to change. Some areas have such high levels of toxins in the air and the groundwater that cancer levels are 15 to 30 times higher than the national figure drinking water is like "liquid poison." (USA Today)
China's Rural Poor Suffer from WTO Membership (February 21, 2005)
Even though China's foreign trade has doubled after the country's accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, its rural population has not benefited from the increased economic activity. According to a World Bank study, the poorest rural households have suffered a sharp six percent loss in their living standards, while nearly 90 percent of urban households reported income and consumption gains. (Agence France Presse)
Wanted: Decent Jobs for Millions of Poor People (February 14, 2005)
At the 1995 Copenhagen Summit, government leaders agreed to take decisive action to end extreme poverty and bring gender equality to women. But ten years after the declaration, the world's poor are not faring much better. According to this Inter Press Service article, the problem does not lie in slow economic growth but in the lack of decent jobs.
Unearthing the Truth: Mining in Peru (February 2005)
In the 1990s, the Peruvian government implemented a series of legal reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment in the mining sector. As a result, investment increased but the environmental and social costs clearly outweighed any benefits for local communities. This Christian Aid report calls for more stringent national and international regulation to ensure that poor communities benefit from industrial development where it takes place.
Sustainability - A New Bottom Line (January 5, 2005)
This Op-Ed piece condemns the standard use of Gross Domestic Product for measuring economic growth and calls for an alternative measurement of development. The current economic system operates under the false premise that the world has no limits, and no constraints on growth, pollution or exploitation. The author argues in favor of a reevaluation of development based on environmental sustainability. (Environmental News Network)
Why Less Should Be So Much More: Degrowth Economics (November 2004)
This piece from Le Monde diplomatique denounces Western economic orthodoxy and its obsession with economic growth by suggesting an alternative radical growth theory: "degrowth economics." The author argues for the need to deconstruct the current development debate, which he views as an unsustainable result of westernization. In order to truly develop, poor countries must break from the path of mental, cultural and economic dependency the so-called "developed countries" want to impose.
Rivers Run Black and Chinese Die of Cancer (September 12, 2004)
With rising income in urban areas the growing Chinese middleclass demands cleaner air and water and pressures the worst polluters to leave the cities. In effect, the Chinese countryside is rapidly turning into a dumping ground where corporations operate without any concern for the environment. (New York Times)
Kazakhstan Faces Widespread Poverty Despite Economic Growth (May 13, 2004)
A UN Development Programme report states that almost 25 percent of Kazakhstan's 15 million people lived in poverty in 2002 despite the country's high economic growth. UNDP head in Kazakhstan Gordon Johnson argues that the government must create a more efficient social policy that would include salary increases for at least half of the employees in the social, civil and agricultural sectors. (UN Wire)
Latin Americans are Nostalgic for Strongman Rule (April 21, 2004)
A UN report reveals that 56 percent of people surveyed in Latin America are "disenchanted" with democracy due to social inequality and ineffective legal systems and social services. Coupled with abusive police practices and widespread corruption, the Mexican Ambassador to the UN Enrique Berruga Filloy argues that people are "democratically exhausted" of waiting for things to change. (International Herald Tribune)
Our So-Called Boom (December 30, 2003)
Paul Krugman argues that the impressive overall economic growth in the US does not benefit people equally. While most direct gains go to corporate profits, a great majority of people does not see their incomes rise. (New York Times)
Measuring Gross National Happiness (November 3, 2003)
Gross domestic product merely represents cash flows and cannot measure a country's progress accurately, argues this article. People should learn from pioneer projects in Brazil that assess development on indicators including the social and environmental consequences of economic growth. (Environment News Service)
What's Wealth (October 1, 2003)
This TomPaine article argues that the US focus on growth statistics and official unemployment numbers is an "incredible Orwellian scam." Those statistics hide the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the fact that "the richest country in the world" cannot guarantee healthcare and freedom from poverty to its population.
In War and Peace, Reforms Transform Sri Lanka's Economy (August 21, 2003)
This Panos feature questions the "myth of the economic boom during the war period" in Sri Lanka. While the reforms undertaken by the Sri Lankan government generated surprising economic growth, this did not translate into a similar improvement in health and education.
Making Trinkets in China, and a Deadly Dust (June 15, 2003)
China's booming export industry has led to record growth in GDP, but life remains difficult for migrant workers like Hu Zhiguo, who became ill working in a jewelry factory. (New York Times)
Bhutan Looks to WTO to Lift the Happiness Index (February 24, 2003)
The country of Bhutan measures economic growth by a "happiness index" which takes into account "a sustainable balance among the economic, social, emotional and cultural needs of the people." Bhutan is negotiating to join the WTO in hopes that market liberalization will boost the country's happiness. (Bloomberg)
Liberalisation Makes Rajasthan's Drought Lethal (February 5, 2003)
The monsoon hasn't come to northeastern India since 1998, but development workers say India's economic liberalization, not drought alone, is responsible for the current famine. Relief organization Christian Aid has seen an increase in rural poverty and acute hunger since India began liberalizing its economy and dismantling agricultural subsidies. (Guardian)
Can Small Still be Beautiful? (January 28, 2003)
India and China are both pursuing development strategies made in the West based on growth, efficiency, and consumption of natural resources. This article warns that "the result is likely to be a highly degraded environment and serious depletion of resources, rather than the elimination of poverty." (Christian Science Monitor)
The UNDP Human Development Report 2000 online
Oxfam
Visible Hands: Taking Responsibility for Social Development
This report from the UN Research Institute for Social Development asserts that neoliberal approaches to growth have gone too far, with the result that social development concerns have been neglected.
