In many countries, the government prioritises economic growth above all other concerns. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this. Economic growth is prioritized above all other concerns by the state, in many
nations. The advantages of this are, improved quality of life of people and good
infrastructure. The disadvantages of prioritizing economic growth above all
other concerns are unaffordable cost of living and more environmental damage.
The main advantage of giving importance to economic growth is, it improves the
quality if life of people. This is because with economic progress, states generate
lots of revenue which can be used to provide high quality services such as free
education, good public transportation and sophisticated health care system.
Another advantage is developing good infrastructure. When a government
prioritizes economic growth, they would build a good infrastructure to attract
both domestic and foreign investments. So infrastructure in a nation is usually
developed when economic growth is prioritized. For example, in India many
highways and an international airport is built in the National Capital Region
which attracted thousands of companies to establish a branch in that region.
One of the main disadvantages of prioritizing economic growth is unaffordable
cost of living. That is to say, with economic growth, prices of consumer products
and real estate increases rapidly making it difficult for low-income families to
afford the cost of living. Another disadvantage is more environmental damage.
This is because, to develop the industries and to get maximum profits, nations
tend to use the most accessible and locally available sources of energy. This
leads to more and more use of fossil fuels and thus causing more environmental
damage. For example, coal is widely used in China to supply energy to its
industries because it is cheap and can be mined within the country.
In conclusion, the advantages of the prioritizing economic growth above all
other concerns are improved quality of life of people and good infrastructure.
The disadvantages are unaffordable cost of living and more environmental
damage.
