Syndicate
How the GDP Is Increased
In general terms a high GDP is better than a lower one, because a higher level of production brings about potentially better standards of life, amongst these better medical attention for the sick and more money to help those in need.
However, keep in mind that a high GDP does not guarantee that the contentment of people is necessarily increasing, because often times the GDP increases when things go wrong. An example of this can be seen when a natural disaster occurs such as an earthquake that will destroy a part of the city, the GDP will increase as the reconstruction of that city is taking place and a lot of new things are produced to replace what has been destroyed, however it would have been better if the natural disaster had not even occurred in the first place.
In the same way, a high GDP can come up in certain circumstances only if you are willing to tolerate more contamination or a higher level of inequality in income. Countries that have an accelerated development and life styles that grow quickly also tend to have a more contaminated environment and more social discomfort due to the fact that there are people that are getting rich much quicker than others. The GDP does not reflect these negative conditions.
The GDP does not count the value of leisure time. There is a moment in which people do not produce or consume something that is accounted for in the GDP such as when a person decides to do nothing such as star gaze, sit on the beach etc. Even more so an increase in the GDP is often times brought about by letting go of leisure activities and this in some way also implies that an increase in the GDP does not necessarily mean an increase in people’s pleasure or contentment.
This means that although the policies that increase the GDP are generally beneficial for society, the costs that are involved in creating this big project always need to be examined.