Is economic growth a good thing?

[alancohen]

Financial commentators and treasury ministers forever harp on about the importance of economic growth. Nobody ever mentions a downside, but surely the unrestricted pursuit of economic growth must use up unrenewable resources and be detrimental for the environment or, as a non economist, am I missing something. Could someone explain this to me - in simple terms please!

[RCP]

As Ned says, if you do not have growth you are likely to slide into recession. Economic growth also increases tax revenue which can be used to improve social services & implement environmental improvement programmes (please note I said "can" not "will"). Economic growth does not necessarily use up non-renewable resources either. In fact, it was prosperity that paid for the technology allowing e-commerce to grow. This has seen an increase in the "paperless office", surely a good thing for the environment. I do realise there are downsides as well, but my personal opinion is that the positives will always outweigh the negatives. As is often the case, there is not really room here to expand on the range of issues that could be raised by your question.

[DavidUK]

The trouble is that nothing can go on growing for ever. For example, an individual company can go on growing over a number of years but there will come a point, for one reason or another, when it can't grow any more.

[mikewith]

Just so ned flanders et al don't think they're getting away with it ;-) ...

Boom and bust is an essential quality of the capitalist system - in simple terms: what goes up must come down. Economic growth is going to happen.. but so is economic downturn. Is this good? You decide.

Likewise, a healthy capitalist economy requires poorer, less developed markets to supply raw, cheap ingrediants and also to buy goods produced. So one country's economic growth requires another country's economic suffering.

Lucky for us we decided to hang on the coat-tails of the US as they prepared Afghnistan/ Iraq/ who knows where next for the next phase of their 'market developement', isn't it?

[woodpam]

Here here Mikewith, and lets not forget that as growth (and related profits) get harder and harder to squeeze out of the economy, steps have to be taken. These include exporting manufacturing jobs, and most recently call centre jobs to cheaper countries, thus destabilising their economies as they are created and removed with impunity and leaving developed countries with far fewer useful jobs for their less skilled workforces. We in the UK now have a situation where a worker with low skills cannot afford housing. As "third world" countries struggle to sustain their economies they are forced to take our most dangerous industries, such as waste processing. Economic growth feels good when it's happening, but there's always a price to be paid.

[bazwillrun]

The more we earn the more they can take from us, so in those terms and from their point of view Economic Growth is wonderful !