Effects of economic growth (notes)

Effects of economic growth: Living standards: Faster economic growth results in an increase in real GDP per capita. Real wages can rise & households can enjoy a higher disposable income & therefore higher material standards eg. faster economic growth in Australia resulted in 3.0% annual growth in per capita real incomes in the decade 2003 compared to 1.4% in the 1980s Employment: Economic growth creates jobs & a strong enough level of economic growth can …

…Although it is thought that higher economic growth contributes to higher living standards, it often only benefits a particular group of people such as shareholders or company executives (higher income earners), rather than flowing more broadly to people through wage increases or improved public services. Environmental impacts: If growth is pursued with little regard to its impact on the environment, it can result in pollution, depletion of non-renewable energy resources and damage the local environment