Economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition of economic development.'

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‘Economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition of economic development.’

There is no single definition that encompasses all the aspects of economic development. The most comprehensive definition perhaps of economic development is the one given by Todaro:

‘Development is not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a multi – dimensional process involving reorganization and re orientation of the entire economic and social system.

Development is a process of improving the quality of all human lives with three equally important aspects. These are:

  1. Raising peoples’ living levels, i.e. incomes and consumption, levels of food, medical services, education through relevant growth processes.
  2. Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’ self esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect.
  3. Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice variables.’

Economic growth may be defined as an increase in a country's ability to produce goods and services. Economic growth merely refers to an increase in the real Gross Domestic Product, or GDP per capita over a period of time.

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It is natural to be misled by the idea that economic growth is the key to economic development and perhaps a condition of development itself, but development is more than simply increasing economic output i.e. GDP per capita. It is a wider concept than economic growth. A country's economy may experience real growth of GDP with no economic development taking place. Nevertheless, wider more meaningful indicators of development are often correlated with GDP per capita, such as The Physical Quality of Life Index, Human Development Index, Human Poverty Index and the Human Suffering Index, which help us include the ...

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The essay is structured well, having a clear introduction and conclusion. It's important to define the key terms in the introduction to allow a convincing and sharp argument throughout, and this essay does it well. I would note that the style is fantastic, and the use of phrases such as "thus it is evident" and "undoubtedly" allow for flowing analysis and strong evaluation. It is key to show understanding of each step of a mechanism in economics, and using phrases such as "therefore" or "as a result" makes this easier. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are strong throughout.

The analysis in this essay is strong. I liked how they included a discussion of how development is measured. In my opinion, starting with something like the Human Development Index, you are able to explain economic development simply by explaining the indices used for the HDI. This essay is particularly strong due to its breadth of theories and viewpoints. For example including Amartya Sen, the trickle-down effect and Todaro shows a superb understanding that many interpretations exist, and development economics isn't clear cut. Being able to write about this in a sophisticated way should be admired! I would've liked to have seen a few examples where economic growth has not led to development, looking at real GDP data and the changes in the HDI. Similarly, a few examples where development has not led to increased living standards would show good awareness. If this essay wanted to go further, it could look at the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve when discussing income inequality, as this is a good concept to gain high marks.

This question engages with the question superbly. This is due to the clear introduction defining development, analysis of economic growth's affect on development, then an evaluation on the extent to which it facilitates development. What I liked best was the clear understanding that there is a difference between development and economic growth, which is a concept easily blurred at lower levels. The sentence explaining growth focuses mainly on GDP growth shows this understanding.