Read the following two articles and post a response to one of the two questions that follow. You must complete your post by Saturday, April 11.
Greening-the-Gross-Domestic-Product
(1) In “Voices: Greening the Gross Domestic Product,” Garrett C. Groves and Michael E. Webber point out that policy makers are often pressured to choose policies that prioritize either the economy or the environment. Groves and Webber argue that this is a false choice – that policy makers should prioritize both. What are the problems with the way in which Gross Domestic Product is currently measured that make this a challenge?
(2) In “The GDP Myth: Why Growth isn’t always a good thing,” the authors cite several sources of growth that have had negative impacts on economic growth. Identify one of the reasons they site and explain why this source of growth is actually harmful to the economy. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
Optional extra credit assignment (for those who wish): answer the following question in a typed one-page short essay. It should be submitted by April 27.
According to Rowe and Silverstein, the assumption about GDP growth among most economists is that âIt makes no difference where the money goes, and why. As long as the people spend more of it, the economy is said to âgrow.’â Thinking back to earlier class discussions about the environmental consequences of unplanned, unrestricted growth for its own sake, what are some of the problems with this view of growth and why?
There is no money in savings. Investors do not invest in companies that save. There is no exitement in saving. Saving our environment will never be a major focus. Why would companies or governments tell people how bad we are really doing in the bussiness of saving our environment. China saya, why would be stop growing now, the United States has done it for milleania and no one said anything, and they are right. The US knew about the destruction that they were causing and they knew they were being anti-productive, but the greed is too much. Greed drives us as a society. We are a disease, like a cancer on mother earth and we will never measure our success by showing our faults, that makes no sense. We need to change the way we do things and countries should show how great they are at it, but no one is buying savings of the rainforest of Brazil. It would never happen, it would never be accepted or adopted by any country, there will always be a mistake with the way it is done. We are meant to doom our earth and there is nothing we can do. Businesses owe their investors a return, Not a safe place to enjoy it.
According to the article âthe GDP Myth why âgrowthâ isnât always a good thingâ written by Jonathan Rowe and Judith Silverstein, growth is not always a good thing, in fact the negative effect seems more than the positive outcome of growth. Growth in the nation is a part to consider better life and good economy, however logically âGross Domestic Productâ or GDP breakdown of growth displays the opposite. In the article the GDP Myth the authors cite several source of growth and it negative impact on economy growth, which one is âDebtâ. According to GDP calculations more Debt results in GDP growth, meaning when people jeopardize their future by owing a bank, economy is then said to be good. Today Americans are seen as the engine controlling global economy through consumer spending, however spending more money logically doesnât always mean that life is getting better. Americans are dipping themselves into debt with believe that it helps economy growth, however, most citizens are become more stressed while trying to get rid of their debt. It is ridiculous to realize that an average âAmerican household has 11 credit cards and owes some $7000 on them at any given timeâ therefore their income is not well enough to pay off their debt, resulting in more stress, causing increase in hospital visit, which will eventually add up Americans medical bills. As a student it is sad to understand owing student loans helps the so called âGDPâ growth. Still bank send out over 800 million credit cards every three months. The focus is on students, credit cards company are now enticing students with T-shirt and peanuts âdeceivingâ them plus sinking them into long term debt all in the name of GDP growth. Majority of students will graduate and experience no better life years after college graduation because of their student loans and other debt owing. Reviewing all negative impact of debt on human life, however great on the side of GDP, reducing all unnecessary spending will be ideal. Changing the idea of debt imbedded into young Americans in other to keep the global economy floating will work well for the future. Since reducing debt is bad for economy growth, it is very difficult to convince people like myself that spending more money will result in living a better life.