essay question economic growth

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

114 Economic Growth Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Economic growth is a crucial aspect of any country's development and prosperity. It refers to the increase in the production of goods and services in an economy over time, leading to higher income levels and improved living standards for the population. As such, economic growth is a key indicator of a country's overall economic health and can have a significant impact on various sectors such as employment, investment, and international trade.

When it comes to writing an essay on economic growth, there are countless topics and examples to explore. Whether you are a student looking for inspiration for your next assignment or a researcher looking to delve deeper into the subject, here are 114 economic growth essay topic ideas and examples to get you started:

• The impact of technological advancements on economic growth
• The role of infrastructure development in fostering economic growth
• The relationship between education and economic growth
• The effects of government policies on economic growth
• The importance of innovation in driving economic growth
• The impact of globalization on economic growth
• The role of entrepreneurship in stimulating economic growth
• The effects of population growth on economic development
• The relationship between income inequality and economic growth
• The impact of natural resources on economic growth
• The effects of demographic changes on economic growth
• The role of monetary policy in promoting economic growth
• The impact of fiscal policy on economic growth
• The effects of trade liberalization on economic growth
• The relationship between financial development and economic growth
• The role of foreign direct investment in driving economic growth
• The effects of corruption on economic growth
• The impact of environmental sustainability on economic growth
• The relationship between healthcare and economic growth
• The effects of social capital on economic development
• The role of institutions in fostering economic growth
• The impact of urbanization on economic growth
• The effects of inflation on economic development
• The relationship between government debt and economic growth
• The role of technology transfer in promoting economic growth
• The effects of labor market regulations on economic growth
• The impact of political stability on economic development
• The relationship between property rights and economic growth
• The role of foreign aid in fostering economic growth
• The effects of currency devaluation on economic development
• The impact of financial crises on economic growth
• The relationship between education and human capital formation
• The role of public-private partnerships in promoting economic growth
• The effects of international trade agreements on economic development
• The impact of automation on economic growth
• The relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction
• The role of economic diversification in fostering sustainable growth
• The effects of demographic transitions on economic development
• The impact of climate change on economic growth
• The relationship between energy consumption and economic development
• The role of regional integration in promoting economic growth
• The effects of government corruption on economic development
• The impact of social welfare programs on economic growth
• The relationship between financial inclusion and economic development
• The role of job creation in driving economic growth
• The effects of income redistribution on economic development
• The impact of agricultural productivity on economic growth
• The relationship between industrialization and economic development
• The role of foreign exchange reserves in promoting economic growth
• The effects of trade protectionism on economic development
• The impact of technological diffusion on economic growth
• The relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation
• The role of sustainable development goals in fostering economic growth
• The effects of population aging on economic development
• The impact of digital transformation on economic growth
• The relationship between financial literacy and economic development
• The role of social entrepreneurship in promoting economic growth
• The effects of income mobility on economic development
• The impact of public investments on economic growth
• The relationship between economic growth and social cohesion
• The role of gender equality in fostering economic development
• The effects of cultural diversity on economic growth
• The impact of technological adoption on economic development
• The relationship between economic growth and income distribution
• The role of inclusive growth in promoting sustainable development
• The effects of financial inclusion on economic growth
• The impact of digital infrastructure on economic development
• The relationship between economic growth and public health
• The role of social capital in fostering economic development
• The effects of labor market flexibility on economic growth
• The impact of consumer spending on economic development
• The relationship between economic growth and political stability
• The role of human capital development in promoting economic growth
• The effects of urbanization on sustainable development
• The impact of transportation infrastructure on economic growth
• The relationship between economic growth and social mobility 77

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

• Microeconomics Topics Topics: 75
• Macroeconomics Topics Topics: 112
• Inflation Topics Topics: 117
• Recession Research Topics Topics: 86
• Financial Crisis Research Topics Topics: 127
• Economic Crisis Research Topics Topics: 76
• Taxes Paper Topics Topics: 176
• Minimum Wage Research Topics Topics: 77
• Banking Topics Topics: 196
• Monopoly Research Topics Topics: 95
• Trade Essay Topics Topics: 263
• Globalization Paper Topics Topics: 272
• Unemployment Research Topics Topics: 140
• Budget Topics Topics: 131
• Brexit Research Topics Topics: 60

80 Economic Growth Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on economic growth, 📚 economic growth research paper examples, 🎓 most interesting economic growth research titles, 💡 simple economic growth essay ideas.

• Hospitality Industry in Economic Growth and Development
• Institutions and Economic Growth
• Sports Facilities Development for Economic Growth
• Sustainability of Economic Growth
• The Relationship Between Unemployment and Economic Growth
• Joseph Schumpeter’s Evolutionary Approach to Economic Growth
• Are Minimum Wages Harmful or Helpful to Economic Growth
• Resources and Economic Growth in the Indonesian Region The article’s main topic concerns the assessment of the role of various resources, including natural and human ones, in achieving economic growth in the Indonesian region.
• Debt Burden and Sustainable Economic Growth in Nigeria This paper examines the relationship effects of debt burden on sustainable economic growth using Nigeria as a case study.
• Whether Infinite Economic Growth Is Possible The author believes that there is a number of reasons why endless economic development is impossible in practice.
• Bangladesh: Stimulating Economic Growth It is crucial to address the digital literacy level in rural Bangladesh to stimulate economic growth, as it is deficient nowadays.
• Moral Dimensions of Economic Growth There are various moral dimensions that are a result of considering economic growth, which includes maintaining opportunities, nurturing tolerance, etc.
• Transportation Developments and Subsequent Economic Growth From 1865 to 1900 This essay discusses the main factors of increasing economic growth through transportation, and the reasons for such a connection are presented.
• Deficit Spending and Economic Growth To gain an in-depth understanding of the economic outcomes of the Great Recession and other financial catastrophes, it is crucial to grasp the concept of deficit spending.
• Timor-Leste: Effects of Tourism on the Economic Growth The tourism sector in Timor-Leste, just like in any other Southeast Asian countries has an immense potential to contribute to the country’s economic growth.
• Social Determinants of Health: Economic Growth Effect Social injustice has adverse effects on the life that people lead in a given society. It also contributes to causes of diseases that affect the people.
• Long-Term Economic Growth in the East Asian States Although immigrants contribute positively to the economic status of East Asia, they cause overpopulation, native culture erosion, low wages, and unemployment.
• United Kingdom-Ghana Economic Growth Disparities The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the contributing factors that have led to economic growth disparities between the United Kingdom and Ghana.
• Economic Growth of East Asian States: The Impact of Foreign Workers Foreign workers perform essential skills and have affirmative productivity influences, thus, are integral to the long-term economic growth of East Asian states.
• Economic Issues: Factors of Production Growth and Unemployment Rates Assessing the factors such as the rates of production growth, the selected financial systems, and the rates of unemployment is essential for determining the threat to the state economy.
• Trade in Environmental Goods and Economic Growth This paper analyzes how trading in environmental-friendly goods and services may be important in improving the quality of the environment and promoting economic development.
• What Is the Best Way to Stimulate Economic Growth? The examples of economic growth and downturns and economic theories propose different solutions to overcome financial crisis and stabilize economic situation in a country.
• China’s and India’s Economic Growth Experiences China is a country that has been in a position to have poverty reduction this has been due to the strategies that have been used in the country by the Chinese people.
• Trends and Projections of the United States Economic Growth The economic growth rate of a country is not constant over time, but it exhibits phases of expansion, stagnation, and decline.
• The Industrial Revolution and Economic Growth The Industrial Revolution began to lay the foundation for the first market economies where goods were sold and purchased, resulting in the exchange and accumulation of wealth.
• The Industrial Revolution and Economic Growth History The Industrial Revolution had an impact on various spheres of European society. Its primary consequence was urbanization; people started to move to cities to find jobs.
• Industrial Revolution’s Input to Economic Growth The industrial revolution created many working places all over the United Kingdom, whereas the population of the state became more educated and competent.
• Dubai’s Economic Growth and Laziness of Poor The unprecedented growth of Dubai’s economy started in the 1970s. Dubai’s success provides an important lesson in the importance of human capital development.
• Economic Growth Factors in Australia External factors such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), consumer behavior, and inflation rate play a very important role in stimulating economic growth.
• Global Warming Problems due to Economic Growth This paper investigates if it is possible to deal with global warming by reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption without any threats to economic development.
• China’s Economic Growth and Manufacturing The enhanced economic growth, which China is currently experiencing, coexists with a drop in the manufacturing entrepreneurships’ performance.
• Trade Openness and Economic Growth’s Relationship In the article “The Relationship Between Trade Openness and Economic Growth,” authors discover aspects of measuring trade openness and its impact on economic growth.
• Economic Growth and Market Dynamics Gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of the value of all services and goods produced in a certain period of time.
• Economic Growth and Expansion The acquisition of smaller companies, as well as creating mergers with the companies helps considerably when it comes to choosing an appropriate risk management strategy.
• Absorptive Capacity and the Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth
• Background Factors Facilitating Economic Growth Using Linear Regression and Soft Regression
• Accounting for the Decline in AFDC Caseloads: Welfare Reform or Economic Growth
• Defense Spending and Economic Growth in Turkey
• Building the Skills for Economic Growth and Competitiveness in Sri Lanka
• Capital Account Liberalization and Economic Growth in Developing Economies
• Accumulation, Technical Progress, and Increasing Returns in the Economic Growth of East Asia
• Rebalancing China’s Economic Growth: Some Insights From Japan’s Experience
• Achieving Sustainable Economic Growth and Development in Communities Across the United States
• China’s Economic Growth 1978-2025: What We Know Today About China’s Economic Growth Tomorrow
• Beyond Economic Growth: The Genuine Progress of Hong Kong From 1968 to 2010
• Economic Growth and Capital Flows in European Countries in Pre and Post-crisis Periods
• Adjustment Policies and Economic Growth in Developing Countries
• Linear and Nonlinear Causality Between Sectoral Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth
• Africa’s Recent Economic Growth: What Are the Contributing Factors
• Financial Development and Economic Growth: An Egg-and-Chicken Problem
• Banking Sector Development and Economic Growth in Central and Southeastern Europe Countries
• Measuring Intangible Capital and Its Contribution to Economic Growth in Europe
• Crime, Justice, and Growth in South Africa: Toward a Plausible Contribution From Criminal Justice to Economic Growth
• Optimal Economic Growth With Recursive Preferences: Decreasing Rate of Time Preference
• Aging and Economic Growth: The Role of Factor Markets and Fundamental Pension Reforms
• Challenge Facing China’s Economic Growth in Its Aging but Not Affluent Era
• Breaking Down the Barriers to Technological Progress: How U.S. Policy Can Promote Higher Economic Growth
• Finding the Cointegration and Causal Linkages Between Electricity Production and Economic Growth in Pakistan
• Accounting for Agricultural Decline With Economic Growth in Taiwan
• Labor Markets and Economic Growth: Lessons From Korea’s Industrialization, 1970-1990
• Bank and Non-Bank Financial Deepening and Economic Growth: The Nigerian Experience (1981–2010)
• Migrant Workers’ Remittances and Economic Growth: The Role of Financial Development
• Capital Flows and Economic Growth Across Spectral Frequencies: Evidence From Turkey
• Breaking Boundaries: Economic Growth in Canada in Relation to Immigration
• Population Growth and Endogenous Technological Change: Australian Economic Growth in the Long Run
• Addressing Smart Economic Growth by Specific Policies in the European Higher Education Area
• Determining the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth
• Capital Quality Improvement and the Sources of Economic Growth in the Euro Area
• Economic Growth and Climate Change in a Decentralized Economy
• Biodiversity and Economic Growth: Stabilization Versus Preservation of the Ecological Dynamics
• Living Standard and Economic Growth: The Relationship Through the Nonparametric Approach
• Agglomeration Economies, Economic Growth and the New Economic Geography in Mexico
• Financial Deepening and Economic Growth in Developing Countries
• Banking Structure and Regional Economic Growth
• A Causal Relationship Between Fossil Fuel Consumption and Economic Growth in the World
• Bridging and Bonding Social Capital: Which Type Is Good for Economic Growth
• China’s Eighteenth-Century Economic Growth and Imperial Power
• Financial Sector Development and Economic Growth
• British Economic Growth 1856-1973: The Post-War Period in Historical Perspective

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, June 5). 80 Economic Growth Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/economic-growth-essay-topics/

"80 Economic Growth Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 5 June 2022, studycorgi.com/ideas/economic-growth-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) '80 Economic Growth Essay Topics'. 5 June.

1. StudyCorgi . "80 Economic Growth Essay Topics." June 5, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/economic-growth-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "80 Economic Growth Essay Topics." June 5, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/economic-growth-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "80 Economic Growth Essay Topics." June 5, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/economic-growth-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Economic Growth were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on June 21, 2024 .

What is economic growth? And why is it so important?

The goods and services that we all need are not just there – they need to be produced – and growth means that their quality and quantity increase..

Good health, a place to live, access to education, nutrition, social connections, respect, peace, human rights, a healthy environment, and happiness. These are just some of the many aspects we care about in our lives.

At the heart of many of these aspects that we care about are needs for which we require particular goods and services . Think of those that are needed for the goals on the list above – the health services from nurses and doctors, the home you live in, or the teachers who provide education.

Poverty, prosperity, and growth are often measured in monetary terms, most commonly as people’s income. But while monetary measures have some important advantages, they have the big disadvantage that they are abstract. In the worst case, monetary measures – like GDP per capita – are so abstract that we forget what they are actually about: people’s access to goods and services.

The point of this text is to show why economic growth is important and how the abstract monetary measures tell us about the reality of people’s material living conditions around the world and throughout history:

• In the first part, I want to explain what economic growth is and why it is so difficult to measure.
• In the second part, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of several measures of growth, and you will find the latest data on several of these measures so that we can see what they tell us about how people’s material living conditions have changed.

What are these goods and services that I’m talking about?

Have a look around yourself right now. Many of the things you see are products that were produced by someone so that you can use them: the trousers you are wearing, the device you are reading this on, the electricity that powers it, the furniture around you, the toilet that is nearby, the sewage system it is connected to, the bus or car or bicycle you took to get where you are, the food you had this morning, the medications you will receive when you get sick, every window in your home, every shirt in your wardrobe, and every book on your shelf.

At some point in the past, many of these products were not available. The majority did not have access to the most basic goods and services they needed. A recent study on the history of global poverty estimates that just two centuries ago, roughly three-quarters of the world "could not afford a tiny space to live, food that would not induce malnutrition, and some minimum heating capacity.” 1

Let’s look at the history of the last item on that list above, books.

A few centuries ago, the only way to produce a book was for a scribe to copy it word-for-word by hand. Book production was a slow process; it took a scribe about eight months of daily work to produce a single copy of the Bible. 2

It was so laborious that only very few books were produced. The chart shows the estimates of historians. 3

But then, in the 15th century, the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg combined the idea of movable letters with the mechanism that he knew from the wine presses in his hometown. He developed the printing press. Gutenberg developed a new production technology, and it changed things dramatically. Instead of spending months to produce one book, a worker was now able to produce several books a day.

As the printing press spread across Europe, book production soared. Books, which were previously only available to a tiny elite, became available to more and more people.

This is one example of how growth is possible and what economic growth is : an increase in the production of goods and services that people produce for each other.

A list of goods and services that people produce for each other

Before we get to a more detailed definition of economic growth, it’s helpful to remind ourselves of the astonishingly wide range of goods and services that people produce. I think this is helpful because measures of economic output can easily become abstract. This abstraction means we easily lose the mental connection to the goods and services such measures actually talk about.

This list of goods and services isn’t meant as a definitive list, but it helped me to think about the relevance of poverty and growth: 4

At home: Light in your home at night; the sewage system; a shower; vacuum cleaner; fridge; heating; air conditioning; electricity; windows; a toilet – even a flush toilet; soap; a balcony or a garden; running water; warm water; cutlery and dishes; a hut – or even a warm apartment or house; an oven; sewing machine; a stove (that doesn’t poison you ); carpet; toilet paper; trash bags; music recordings or even online streaming of the world’s music and film; garbage collection; radio; television; a washing machine; 5 furniture; telephone; a comfortable bed, and a room for one’s own.

Food: The most fundamental need is to have enough food. For much of human history, a large share of people suffered from hunger , and millions still do .

But we also need to have a richer and more varied diet to get all of the nutrients we need. Unfortunately, billions still suffer from micronutrient deficiency .

Also, think of clean drinking water; reliable markets and stores with a wide range of available goods; food that rarely poisons you (pasteurized milk, for example); spices; tea and coffee; kitchen utensils and practical ingredients (from a bag of flour to canned soups or a yogurt); chocolate and sweets; fresh fruit and vegetables; bread; take-away food or the possibility to go to a restaurant; ways to protect your food from spoiling (from the cold chain that delivers the goods to the cellophane to wrap it with); wine or beer; fertilizer ( very important); and tractors to work the fields.

Knowledge: Education from primary up to university level; books; data that allows us to understand the world around us; newspapers; vocational training; kindergartens; and scientific knowledge to understand ourselves and the world around us.

Infrastructure: Public transportation with buses, subways, and trains; roads; paved roads; airplanes; bridges; financial services (including bank accounts, ATMs, and credit cards); cities; a network of competent workers that can help you to fix problems; postal services (that delivers fast); national parks; street cleaning; public swimming pools (even private pools); firefighters; parks; online shopping; weather forecasts; and a waste management system.

Tools and technologies: Pencils, ballpoint pens, and paper; lawnmowers; cars; car mechanics; bicycles; power tools like drills (even battery-powered ones); a watch; computers and laptops; smartphones (with GPS and a good camera); being able to stay in touch with distant friends or family members (or even visiting them); GPS; batteries; telephones and mobiles; video calls; WiFi; and the internet right here.

Social services: Caretakers for those who are disabled, sick, or elderly; protection from crime; non-profit organizations financed by the public, by donations or by philanthropies; insurance (against many different risks); and a legal system with judges and lawyers that implement the rule of law.

There is also a wide range of transfer payments, which in themselves are not services (they are transfers) but which become more affordable as a society becomes more prosperous: sick leave and disability benefits; unemployment benefits; and being able to help others with a regular donation of some of your income to an effective charity . 6

Life and free time : tents; travel and holidays; surfboards; skis; board games; hotels; playgrounds; children’s toys; courses to learn hobbies (from painting to musical instruments or courses on the environment around us); a football; pets; the cinema, theater or a music concert; clothes (even comfortable and good-looking ones that keep you warm and protect you from the rain); shoes (even shoes for different purposes); shoe repair; the contraceptive pill and the ability to choose if and when to have children; sports classes from rock climbing to pilates and yoga; cigarettes (not all goods that people produce for each other are good for them); 7 a musical instrument; a camera; and parties to celebrate life.

Health and staying well: Dentists; antibiotics; surgeries; anesthesia; mental health care from psychologists and psychiatrists; vaccines; public sewage; a haircut; a massage; midwives; ambulances; modern medicine; band-aids; pharmaceutical drugs; sanitary pads; toothbrushes; dental floss (some do floss); disinfectants; glasses; sunglasses; contact lenses; hearing aids; and hospitals – including very well-equipped, modern hospitals that offer CT scans, which include intensive care units and allow heart or brain surgery or organ transplants.

Specific needs and wishes: Most of the products listed above are generally helpful to people. But often, the goods and services that are most important to one individual are very specific.

As I’m writing this, I have a big cast on my left leg after I broke it. These days, I depend on products that I had no use for just three weeks ago. To move around, I need two long crutches, and to prevent thrombosis, I need to inject a blood thinner every day. After I broke my leg, I needed the service of nurses and doctors. They had to rely on a range of medical equipment, such as X-ray machines. To get back on my feet, I might need the service of physiotherapists.

We all have very specific needs or wishes for particular goods and services. Some needs arise from bad luck, like an injury. Others are due to a new phase in life – think of the specific goods and services you need when you have a baby or when you take care of an elderly person. And yet others are due to specific interests – think of the needs of a fisherman, or a pianist, or a painter.

All of these goods and services do not just magically appear. They need to be produced. At some point in the past, the production of most of them was zero, and even the most essential ones were extremely scarce. So, if you want to know what economic growth means for your life, look at the list above.

What is economic growth?

So, how can we define what economic growth is?

A definition that can be found in so many publications that I don’t know which one to quote is that economic growth is “an increase in the amount of goods and services produced per head of the population over a period of time.”

The definition in the Oxford Dictionary is almost identical: “Economic growth is the increase in the production of goods and services per head of population over a stated period of time”. And the definition in the Cambridge Dictionary is similar. It defines growth as “an increase in the economy of a country or an area, especially of the value of goods and services the country or area produces.”

In the following footnote, you find more definitions. Bringing these definitions together and taking into account the economic literature more broadly, I suggest the following definition: Economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and services that a society produces.

I prefer a definition that is slightly longer than most others. If you want a shorter definition, you can speak of ‘products’ rather than ‘goods and services’, and you can speak of ‘value’ rather than mentioning both the quantity and quality aspects separately.

The most important change in quantity is from zero to one when a new product becomes available. Many of the most important changes in history became possible when new goods and services were developed; think of antibiotics, vaccines, computers, or the telephone.

You find more thoughts on the definition of growth in the footnote. 8

What are economic goods and services?

Many definitions of economic growth simply speak of the production of ‘goods and services’ collectively. This sidesteps a key difficulty in its definition and measurement. Economic growth is not concerned with all goods and services but with a subset of them: economic goods and services.

In everything we do – even in our most mundane activities – we continuously ‘produce’ goods and services in some form. Early in the morning, once we’ve brushed our teeth and made ourselves toast, we have already produced one service and one good. Should we count the tooth-brushing and the toast-making towards the economic production of the country we live in? The question of where to draw the line isn’t easy to answer. But we have to draw the line somewhere. If we don’t, we end up with a concept of production that is so broad that it becomes meaningless; we’d produce a service with every breath we take and every time we scratch our nose.

The line that we have to draw to define the economic goods and services is called the ‘production boundary’. The sketch illustrates the idea. The production boundary defines those goods and services that we consider when we speak about economic growth.

For a huge number of goods or services, there is no question that they are of the ‘economic’ type. But for some of them, it can be complicated to decide on which side of the production boundary they fall. One example is the question of whether the production of illegal goods should be included. Another is whether production within a household should be included – should we consider it as economic production if we grow tomatoes in our backyard and make soup from them? Different authors and different measurement frameworks have given different answers to these questions. 9

There are some characteristics that are helpful in deciding on which side of the boundary a particular product falls. 10 Economic goods and services are those that can be produced and that are scarce in relation to the demand for them. They stand in contrast to free goods, like sunlight, which are abundant, or those many important aspects in our lives that cannot be produced, like friendships. 11 Our everyday language has this right: we don’t refer to the sun or our friendships as a good or service that we ‘produce’.

An economic good or service is provided by people to each other as a solution to a problem they are faced with, and this means that they are considered useful by the person who demands it.

A last characteristic that helps decide whether you are looking at an economic product is “delegability”. An activity is considered to be production in an economic sense if it can be delegated to someone else. This would include many of the goods and services on that long list we considered earlier but would exclude your breathing, for example.

Because economic goods are scarce in relation to the demand for them, human effort is required to produce them. 12 A shorter way of defining growth is, therefore, to say that it is an increase in the production of those products that people produce for each other.

The majority of goods and services on that long list above are uncontroversially of the economic type – everything from the light bulbs and furniture in your home to the roads and bridges that connect your home with the rest of the world. They are scarce in relation to the demand for them and have to be produced by someone; their production is delegable, and they are considered useful by those who want them.

It’s worth recognizing that many of the difficulties in defining the production boundary arise from the effort to make measures of economic production as comparable as possible.

To give just one concrete example of the type of considerations that make the discussion about specific definitions so difficult, let’s look at how the production boundary is drawn in the housing sector.

Imagine two countries that are identical except for one aspect: home ownership. In Country A, everyone rents their homes, and the total sum of annual rent amounts to €2 billion per year. In Country B, everyone owns their own home, and no one pays rent. To provide housing is certainly an economic service, but if we only counted monetary transactions, then we would get the false impression that the value of goods and services in Country A is €2 billion higher than in Country B. To avoid such misjudgment, the production boundary includes the housing services that are provided without any monetary transactions. In National Accounts, statisticians take into account the “imputed rental value of owner-occupied housing” – those households who own their home get assigned an imputed rental value. In the imagined scenario, these imputed rents would amount to €2 billion in Country B so that the prosperity of people in these two countries would be judged to be identical.

It is the case more broadly that National Account figures (like GDP) do include important non-market goods and services that are not included in household survey measures of people’s income. GDP does not only include the housing services by owner-occupied housing but also the provision of most goods and services that are provided by the government or nonprofit institutions.

How can we measure economic growth?

Many discussions about economic growth are extraordinarily confusing. People often talk past one another.

I believe the key reason for this is that the discussion of what economic growth is gets muddled up with how it is measured .

While it is straightforward enough to define what growth is, measuring growth is very, very difficult.

In the worst cases, measures of growth are mixed up with a definition of growth. Growth is often measured as an increase in income or inflation-adjusted GDP per capita. But these measures are not the definition of it – just like life expectancy is a measure of population health but is certainly not the definition of population health.

To see how difficult it is to measure growth, take a moment to think about how you would measure it. How would you determine whether the quantity and quality of all economic goods and services produced by a society increased or decreased over time?

Finding a measure means that you have to find a way to express a huge amount of relevant information in a single metric. As the sketch shows, you have to first measure the quantity and quality of all the many, many goods and services that get produced and then find a way to aggregate all of these measurements into one summarizing metric. No matter what measure you propose for such a difficult task, there will always be problems and shortcomings in any proposal you might make.

In the following section, I will show four possible ways of measuring growth and present some data for each of them to see how they can inform us about the history of material living conditions.

Measuring economic growth by tracking access to particular goods and services

One possible way to measure growth is to make a list of some specific products that people want and to see what share of the population has access to them.

We do this very often at Our World in Data . The chart here shows the share of the world population that has access to four basic resources. All of these statistics measure some particular aspect of economic growth.

You can switch this chart to any country in the world via the “Change country” option. You will find that, judged by this metric, some countries achieved rapid growth – like Indonesia – while others only saw very little growth, like Chad.

The advantage of measuring growth in this way is that it is concrete. It makes clear what exactly is growing, and it’s clear which particular goods and services people gain access to.

The downside is that it only captures a small part of economic growth. There are many other goods and services that people want in addition to water, electricity, sanitation, and cooking technology. 13

You could, of course, expand this approach of measuring growth to many more goods and services, but this is usually not done for both practical and ethical considerations:

One practical reason is that a list of all the products that people value would be extremely long. Keeping lists that track people’s access to all products would be a daunting task: hundreds of different toothbrushes, thousands of different dentists, hundreds of thousands of different dishes in different restaurants, and many millions of different books. 14 If you wanted to measure growth across all goods and services in this way, you’d soon employ half the country in the statistical office.

In practice, any attempt to measure growth as access to particular products, therefore, means that you look only at a relatively small number of very particular goods and services that statisticians or economists are interested in. This is problematic for ethical reasons. It should not be up to the statisticians or economists to determine which few products should be considered valuable.

You might have realized this problem already when you read my list at the beginning of this text. You might have disagreed with the things that I put on that list and thought that some other goods and services were missing. This is why it is important to track incomes and not just access to particular goods: measuring people’s income is a way of measuring the options that they have rather than the choices that they make. It respects people’s judgment to decide for themselves what they find most important for their lives.

On our site, you find many more such metrics of growth that capture whether people have access to particular goods and services:

• This chart shows the share of US households having access to specific technologies.
• This chart shows the share that has health insurance.
• This chart shows access to schools.

Measuring economic growth by tracking the ratio between people’s income and the prices of particular goods and services

To measure the options that a person’s income represents, we have to compare their income with the prices of the goods and services that they want. We have to look at the ratio between income and prices.

The chart here does this for one particular product – books – and brings us back to the history of growth in the publishing sector that we started with. 15 Shown is the ratio between the average income that a worker receives and the price of a book. It shows how long the average worker had to work to buy one book. Note that this data is plotted on a logarithmic axis.

Before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the price was often as high as several months of work. The fact that books were unaffordable for almost everyone should not be surprising. It corresponds to what we’ve seen earlier that it took a scribe several months to produce a single book.

The chart also shows how this changed when the printing press increased the productivity of publishing. As the labor required to produce a book declined from many months of work to less than a day, the price fell from months of wages to mere hours.

This shows us how an innovation in technology raises productivity and how an increase in production makes it more affordable. How it increases the options that people have.

Global inequality: How do incomes compare in countries around the world?

In the previous section, we measured growth as the ratio between income and the price of one particular good. But of course, we could do the same for all the many goods and services that people want. This ratio – the ratio between the nominal income that people receive and the prices that people have to pay for goods and services – is called ‘real income’ . 16

Real income = Nominal income / price of goods and services

Real income grows when people’s nominal income increases or when the prices of goods and services decrease.

In contrast to many of the other metrics on Our World in Data, a person’s real income does not matter for its own sake but because it is a means to an end. A means to many ends, in fact.

Economic growth – measured as an increase in people’s real income – means that the ratio between people’s income and the prices of what they can buy is increasing: goods and services become more affordable, and people become less poor. It is because a person has more choices as their income grows that economists care so much about these monetary measures of prosperity.

The two most prominent measures of real income are GDP per capita and people’s incomes, as determined through household surveys.

They are shown in this chart.

Before we get back to the question of economic growth, let’s see what these measures of real income tell us about the economic inequality in the world today.

Both measures show that global inequality is very large. In a rich country like Denmark, an average person can purchase goods and services for $54 a day, while the average Ethiopian can only afford goods and services that cost $3 per day.

Both measures of real incomes in this chart are measured in international dollars, which means that they take into account the level of prices in each country (using purchasing power parity conversion factors). This price adjustment is done in such a way that one international-$ is equivalent to the purchasing power of one US-$ in the US . An income of int.-$3 in Ethiopia, for example, means that it allows you to purchase goods and services in Ethiopia that would cost US-$3 in the US . All dollar values in this text are given in international dollars, even though I often shorten it to just the $-sign.

If you are living in a rich country and you want to have a sense of what it means to live in a poor country – where incomes are 20 times lower – you can imagine that the prices for everything around you suddenly increase 20-fold. 17 If all the things you buy suddenly get 20-times more expensive your real income is 20-times lower. A loaf of bread doesn’t cost $2 but $40, a pair of jeans costs $400, and an old car costs $40,000. If you ask yourself how these price increases would change your daily consumption and your day-to-day life, you can get a sense of what it means to live in a poor country.

The two shown measures of real income differ:

• The data on the vertical axis is based on surveys in which researchers go from house to house and ask people about their economic situation. In some countries, people are asked about their income, while in other countries, people are asked about their expenditure – expenditure is income minus savings. In poor countries, these two measures are close to each other since poor people do not have the chance to save much.
• On the other hand, GDP per capita starts at the aggregate level and divides the income of the entire economy by the number of people in that country. GDP per capita is higher than per capita survey income because GDP is a more comprehensive measure of income. As we’ve discussed before, it includes an imputed rental value of owner-occupied housing and other differences, such as government expenditure.

Income as a measure of economic prosperity is much more abstract than the metrics we looked at previously. The comparison of incomes of people around the world in this scatterplot measures options, not choices. It shows us that the economic options for billions of people are very low. The majority of the world lives on very low incomes of less than $20, $10, or even $5 per day. In the next section, we’ll see how poverty has changed over time.

• GDP per capita vs. Daily income of the poorest 10%
• GDP per capita vs. Daily average income

Global poverty and growth: How have incomes changed around the world?

Economic growth, as we said before, is an increase in the production of the quantity and quality of the economic goods and services that a society produces. The total income in a society corresponds to the total sum of goods and services the society produces – everyone’s spending is someone else’s income. This means that the average income corresponds to the level of average production, so that the average income in a society increases when the production of goods and services increases.

Average production = average income

In this final section, let’s see how incomes have changed over time, first as documented in survey incomes and then via GDP per capita.

Measuring economic growth by tracking incomes as reported in household surveys

The chart shows the income of people around the world over time, as reported in household surveys. It shows the share of the world population that lives below different poverty lines: from extremely low poverty lines up to $30 per day, which corresponds to notions of poverty in high-income countries .

Many of the poorest people in the world rely on subsistence farming and do not have a monetary income. To take this into account and make a fair comparison of their living standards, the statisticians who produce these figures estimate the monetary value of their home production and add it to their income.

Again, the prices of goods and services are taken into account: these are measures of real incomes. As explained before, incomes are adjusted for price differences between countries, and they are also adjusted for inflation. As a consequence of these two adjustments, incomes are expressed in international dollars in 2017 prices, which means that these income measures express what you would have been able to buy with US dollars in the US in 201 7.

Global economic growth can be seen in this chart as an increasing share of the population living on higher incomes. In 2000 two thirds of the world lived on less than $6.85 per day. In the following 19 years, this share fell by 22 percentage points.

In 2020 and 2021 — during the economic recession that followed the pandemic — the size of the world economy declined, and the share of people in poverty increased . As soon as global data for this period is available, we will update this chart.

The data shows that global poverty has declined, no matter what poverty line you choose. It also shows that the majority of the world still lives on very low incomes. As we’ve seen, we can describe the same reality from the production side: the global production of the goods and services that people want has increased, but there is still not enough production of even very basic products. Most people in the world do not have access to them.

An advantage of household survey data over GDP per capita is that it captures the inequality of incomes within a country. You can explore this inequality with this chart by switching to see the data for an individual country via the ‘Change country’ button.

Measuring economic growth by tracking GDP per capita

GDP per capita is a broader measure of real income, and in contrast to survey income, it also takes government expenditures into account. A lot of thinking has gone into the construction of this very prominent metric so that it is comparable not only over time but also across countries. This makes it especially useful as a measure to understand the economic inequality in the world, as we’ve seen above. 18

Another advantage of this measure is that historians have reconstructed estimates of GDP per capita that go back many centuries. This historical research is an extremely laborious task , and researchers have dedicated many years of work to these reconstructions. The ‘Maddison Project’ brings together these long-run reconstructions from various researchers, and thanks to these efforts, we have a good understanding of how incomes have changed over time.

The chart shows how average incomes in different world regions have changed over the last two centuries. Looking at the latest data, you see again the very large inequality between different parts of the world today. You now also see the history of how we got here: small increases in production in some world regions and very large increases in those regions where people have the highest incomes today.

One of the very first countries to achieve sustained economic growth was the United Kingdom. In this chart, we see the reconstructions of GDP per capita in the UK over the last centuries.

It is no accident that the shape of this chart is very similar to the chart on book production at the beginning of this text – very low and almost flat for many generations and then quickly rising. Both of these developments are driven by changes in production.

Average income corresponds to average production, and societies around the world were able to produce very few goods and services in the past. There were no major exceptions to this reality. As we see in this chart, global inequality was much lower than today: the majority of people around the world were very poor.

To get a sense of what this means, you can again take the approach we’ve used to understand the inequality in the world today. When incomes in today’s rich countries were 20 times lower, it was as if all the prices around you today would suddenly increase 20-fold. But in addition to this, you have to consider that all the goods and services that were developed since then disappeared – no bicycle, no internet, no antibiotics. All that’s left for you are the goods and services of the 17th century, but all of them are 20 times more expensive than today. The majority of people around the world, including in today’s richest countries, live in deep poverty.

Just as we’ve seen in the history of book production, this changed once new production technologies were introduced. The printing press was an exceptionally early innovation in production technology; most innovations happened in the last 250 years. The starting point of this rise out of poverty is called the Industrial Revolution.

The printing press made it possible to produce more books. The many innovations that made up the Industrial Revolution made it possible to increase the production of many goods and services. Compare the effort that it takes for a farmer to reap corn with a scythe to the possibilities of a farmer with a tractor or a combined harvester, or think of the technologies that made overland travel faster – from walking on foot to traveling in a horse buggy to taking the train or car; or think of the effort it took to build those roads that the buggies once traveled on with the modern machinery that allows us to produce the corresponding public infrastructure today .

The production of a myriad of different goods and services followed trajectories very similar to the production of books – flat and low in the past and then steeply increasing. The rise in average income that we see in this chart is the result of the aggregation of all these production increases.

In the past, before societies achieved economic growth, the only way for anyone to become richer was for someone else to become poorer; the economy was a zero-sum game. In a society that achieves economic growth, this is no longer the case. When average incomes increase, it becomes possible for people to become richer without someone else becoming poorer.

This transition from a zero-sum to a positive-sum economy is the most important change in economic history (I wrote about it here ) and made it possible for entire societies to leave the extreme poverty of the past behind.

Conclusion: The history of global poverty reduction has just begun

The chart shows the global history of extreme poverty and economic growth.

In the top left panel, you can see how global poverty has declined as incomes increased; in the other eight panels, you see the same for all world regions separately. The starting point of each trajectory shows the data for 1820 and tells us that two centuries ago, the majority of people lived in extreme poverty, no matter where in the world they were at home.

Back then, it was widely believed that widespread poverty was inevitable. But this turned out to be wrong. The trajectories show how incomes and poverty have changed in each world region. All regions achieved growth – the goods and services that people need saw their production and quality increase – and the share living in extreme poverty declined. 19

This historical research was done by Michail Moatsos and is based on the ‘cost of basic needs’-approach as suggested by Robert Allen (2017) and recommended by the late Tony Atkinson. 20 The name ‘extreme poverty’ is appropriate as this measure is based on an extremely low poverty threshold. It takes us back to what I mentioned at the very beginning; this historical research tells us – as the author puts it – that three-quarters of the world "could not afford a tiny space to live, food that would not induce malnutrition, and some minimum heating capacity.”

Since then, all world regions have made progress against extreme poverty – some much earlier than others – but in particular, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the share of people living in deep poverty is still very high.

The last two centuries were the first time in human history that societies have achieved sustained economic growth, and the decline of global poverty is one of the most important achievements in history. But it is still a very long way to go.

This is what we see in this final chart. The red line shows the share of people living in extreme poverty that we just discussed. Additionally, you now also see the share living on less than $3.65, $6.85, and $30 per day. 21

The world today is very unequal, and the majority of the world still lives in poverty: 47% live on less than $6.85 per day, and 84% live on less than $30. Even after two centuries of progress, we are still in the early stages. The history of global poverty reduction has only just begun.

That the world has made substantial progress but nevertheless still has a long way to go is the case for many of the world’s very large problems. I’ve written before that all three statements are true at the same time: The world is much better, the world is awful, and the world can be much better. This is very much the case for global poverty. The world is much less poor than in the past, but it is still very poor, and it remains one of the largest problems we face.

Some writers suggest we can end poverty by simply reducing global inequality. This is not the case. I’m very much in favor of reducing global inequality, and I hope I do what I can to contribute to this. But it is important to be clear that a reduction of inequality alone would still mean that billions around the world would live in very poor conditions. Those who don’t see the importance of growth are not aware of the extent of global poverty. The production of many crucial goods and services has to increase if we want to end it. How much economic growth is needed to achieve this? This is the question I answered in this recent text .

To solve the problems we face, it is not enough to increase overall production. We also need to make good decisions about which goods and services we want to produce more of and which ones we want less of. Growth doesn’t just have a rate, it also has a direction, and the direction we choose matters – for our own happiness and for achieving a sustainable future .

I hope this text was helpful in making clear what economic growth is. It is necessary to remind ourselves of that because we mostly talk about poverty and growth in monetary terms. The monetary measures have the disadvantage that they are abstract, perhaps so abstract that we even forget what growth is actually about and why it is so important. The goods and services that we all need are not just there – they need to be produced – and economic growth means that the quality and quantity of these goods and services increase, from the food that we eat to the public infrastructure we rely on.

The history of economic growth is the history of how societies leave widespread poverty behind by finding ways to produce more of the goods and services that people need – all the very many goods and services that people produce for each other: look around you now.

Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Joe Hasell and Hannah Ritchie for very helpful comments on draft versions of this article.

Our World in Data presents the data and research to make progress against the world’s largest problems. This article draws on data and research discussed in our topic pages on Economic Inequality , Global Poverty , and Economic Growth .

Version history: In October 2023, I copy-edited this article; it was a minor update, and nothing substantial was changed.

Michail Moatsos (2021) – Global extreme poverty: Present and past since 1820. Published in OECD (2021), How Was Life? Volume II: New Perspectives on Well-being and Global Inequality since 1820 , OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3d96efc5-en .

At the time when material prosperity was so poor, living conditions were extremely poor in general; close to half of all children died .

Historian Gregory Clark reports the estimate that scribes were able to copy about 3,000 words of plain text per day.

See Clark (2007) – A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World. Clark (2007). In it, Clark quotes his earlier working paper with Patricia Levin as the source of these estimates. Gregory Clark and Patricia Levin (2001) – “How Different Was the Industrial Revolution? The Revolution in Printing, 1350–1869.”

There are about 760,000 words in the bible (it differs between various translations and languages; here is an overview of some translations).

This implies that the production of one copy of the Bible meant 253.3 days (8.3 months) of daily work.

Copying the text was not the only step in the production process for which productivity was low. The ink had to be made, parchment had to be produced and cut, and many other steps involved laborious work.

Wikipedia’s article about scribes reports sources that estimate that the production time per bible was even longer than 8 months.

Clark himself states in the same publication that “Prior to that innovation, books had to be copied by hand, with copyists on works with just plain text still only able to copy 3,000 words per day. Producing one copy of the Bible at this rate would take 136 man-days.” Since the product of 136 and 3000 is only 408,000, it is unclear to me how Clark has arrived at this estimate – 408,000 words are fewer words than in the Tanakh and other versions of the bible.

The data is taken from Eltjo Buringh and Jan Luiten Van Zanden (2009) – Charting the “Rise of the West”: Manuscripts and Printed Books in Europe, a Long-Term Perspective from the Sixth through Eighteenth Centuries. In The Journal of Economic History Vol. 69, No. 2 (June 2009), pp. 409-445. Online here .

Western Europe in this study is the area of today’s Great Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Poland.

On the history and economics of book production, see also the historical work of Jeremiah Dittmar.

I’ve relied on several sources to produce this list. One source was the simple descriptions of the consumption bundles that are relied upon for CPI measurement – like this one from Germany’s statistical office . And I have also relied on the national accounts themselves.

This list is also inspired partly by this list of Gwern and I’m also grateful for the feedback that I got via Twitter to earlier versions of this list. [ Here I shared the list on Twitter ]

This is Hans Rosling’s talk on the magic of the washing machine – worth watching if you haven’t seen it.

Of course all of these transfer payments have a service component to them, someone is managing the payment of the disability benefits etc.

Because smoking causes a large amount of suffering and death I do not find cigarettes valuable, but my opinion is not what matters for a list of goods and services that people produce for each other. Whether some good is considered to be part of the domestic product depends on whether it is a good that some people want, not whether you or I want it. More on this below.

Very similar to the definitions given above is the definition that Kimberly Amadeo gives: “Economic growth is an increase in the production of goods and services over a specific period.”

“Economic growth is an increase in the production of economic goods and services, compared from one period of time to another” is the definition at Investopedia .

Alternatively, to my definition, I think it can be useful to think of economic growth as not directly concerned with the output as such but with the capacity to produce this output. The NASDAQ’s glossary defines growth in that way: “An increase in the nation's capacity to produce goods and services.”

Wikipedia defines economic growth as follows: “Economic growth can be defined as the increase in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy over time.” Definitions that are based on how growth is measured strike me as wrong – just like life expectancy is a measure of population health and hardly the definition of population health. I will get back to this mistake further below in this text.

An aspect that I emphasize more explicitly than others is the quality of the goods and services. People obviously do just care about the number of goods, and in the literature on growth, the measurement of changes in quality is a central question. Many definitions speak more broadly about the ‘value’ of the goods and services that are produced, but I think it is worth emphasizing that growth is also concerned with a rise in the quality of goods and services.

OECD – Measuring the Non-Observed Economy: A Handbook .

The relevant numbers are not small. For the US alone, “illegal drugs add $108 billion to measured nominal GDP in 2017, illegal prostitution adds $10 billion, illegal gambling adds $4 billion, and theft from businesses adds $109 billion” if they were to be included in the US National Accounts. This is according to the report by Rachel Soloveichik (2019) – Including Illegal Activity in the U.S. National Economic Accounts . Published by the BEA.

Ironmonger (2001) – Household Production. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Pages 6934-6939. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03964-4

Or for some longer run data on the US: Danit Kanal and Joseph Ted Kornegay (2019) – Accounting for Household Production in the National Accounts: An Update, 1965–2017 . In the Survey of Current Business.

Helpful references that discuss how the production boundary is drawn (and how it changed over time) are: Lequiller and Blades – Understanding National Accounts (available in various editions) Diane Coyle (2016) – GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691169859/gdp

The definition of the production boundary by Statistics Finland

Itsuo Sakuma (2013) – The Production Boundary Reconsidered. In The Review of Income and Wealth. Volume 59, Issue 3; Pages 556-567.

Diane Coyle (2017) – Do-it-Yourself Digital: The Production Boundary and the Productivity Puzzle. ESCoE Discussion Paper 2017-01, Available at SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2986725

A more general way of thinking about free goods and services is to consider them as those for which the supply is hugely greater than the demand.

Their production, therefore, has an opportunity cost, which means that if someone obtains an economic good, someone is giving up on something for it – this can either be the person themselves or society more broadly. Free goods, in contrast, are provided with zero opportunity cost to society.

It is also the case that the international statistics on these measures often have very low cutoffs for what it means ‘to have access’; this is, for example, the case for what it means to have access to energy.

10 years ago, Google counted there were 129,864,880 different books, and since then, the number has increased further by many thousands of new books every day.

This chart is from Jeremiah Dittmar and Skipper Seabold (2019) – New Media New Knowledge – How the printing press led to a transformation of European thought . I was unfortunately not able to find the raw data anywhere and could not redraw this chart; if someone knows where this (or comparable) data can be found, please let me know.

In the language of economists, the nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas the real value is measured against goods or services. This means that the real income is the income adjusted for inflation (it is adjusted for the changes in prices of goods and services). Thereby, it allows comparisons that tell us the quantity and quality of the goods and services that people were able to purchase at different points in time.

I learned this way of thinking about it from Twitter user @Kirsten3531, who responded with this idea to a tweet of mine here https://twitter.com/Kirsten3531/status/1389553625308045317

We’ve discussed one such consideration that is crucial for comparability when we consider how to take into account the value of owner-occupied housing.

Whether economic growth translates into the reduction of poverty depends not only on the growth itself but also on how the distribution of income changes. The poverty metrics shown in this chart and in previous charts take both of these aspects – the average level of production/income and its distribution – into account.

Jutta Bolt and Jan Luiten van Zanden (2021) – The GDP data in the chart is taken from The Long View on Economic Growth: New Estimates of GDP, How Was Life? Volume II: New Perspectives on Well-being and Global Inequality since 1820 , OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3d96efc5-en .

The latest data point for the poverty data refers to 2018, while the latest data point for GDP per capita refers to 2016. In the chart, I have chosen the middle year (2017) as the reference year.

The ‘cost of basic needs’-approach was recommended by the ‘World Bank Commission on Global Poverty’, headed by Tony Atkinson, as a complementary method in measuring poverty.

The report for the ‘World Bank Commission on Global Poverty’ can be found here .

Tony Atkinson – and, after his death, his colleagues – turned this report into a book that was published as Anthony B. Atkinson (2019) – Measuring Poverty Around the World. You find more information on Atkinson’s website .

The CBN-approach Moatsos’ work is based on what was suggested by Allen in Robert Allen (2017) – Absolute poverty: When necessity displaces desire. In American Economic Review, Vol. 107/12, pp. 3690-3721, https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20161080 .

Moatsos describes the methodology as follows: “In this approach, poverty lines are calculated for every year and country separately, rather than using a single global line. The second step is to gather the necessary data to operationalize this approach alongside imputation methods in cases where not all the necessary data are available. The third step is to devise a method for aggregating countries’ poverty estimates on a global scale to account for countries that lack some of the relevant data.” In his publication – linked above – you find much more detail on all of the shown poverty data. The speed at which extreme poverty declined increased over time, as the chart shows. Moatsos writes, “It took 136 years from 1820 for our global poverty rate to fall under 50%, then another 45 years to cut this rate in half again by 2001. In the early 21st century, global poverty reduction accelerated, and in 13 years, our global measure of extreme poverty was halved again by 2014.”

These are the same global poverty estimates – based on household surveys – we discussed above.

Cite this work

Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. When citing this article, please also cite the underlying data sources. This article can be cited as:

BibTeX citation

Reuse this work freely

All visualizations, data, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license . You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

The data produced by third parties and made available by Our World in Data is subject to the license terms from the original third-party authors. We will always indicate the original source of the data in our documentation, so you should always check the license of any such third-party data before use and redistribution.

All of our charts can be embedded in any site.

Our World in Data is free and accessible for everyone.

Help us do this work by making a donation.

Economics Essay Topics: 162 Practical Ideas & Useful Tips

Essay writing is an inherent part of the economics studying process. Nevertheless, it is quite a challenging task. Are you a high school or college student who is struggling with an economic essay topic choice? Or maybe you are unsure about your writing skills?

We know how to help you .

The following article will guide you in choosing the best topic for your essay on economics. Here, you can find a variety of ideas for high school or college. The economic essay topics are divided into several categories that will help you with your research. And a pleasant bonus from our team! We have created a great guide on how to write an economics essay.

So, don’t miss your chance to write an outstanding economic paper! Check out our essay ideas, read our tips carefully, and be ready to receive your grade A!

• ⭐ Best Economic Topics
• 🤝 Socio-Economic
• 🗺️ International Economics
• 🛠️ Labor Economics
• 🌆 Urban Economics
• ⚽ Sports Economics
• 💉 Health Economics
• 💼 Business Economics
• 🏤 Globalization
• 🧮 Economic History
• 💫 How to Write?

⭐ 15 Best Economic Essay Topics

• 2008 Economic Crisis.
• Socio-economic policy.
• Economic systems – Singapore.
• Racial pay gap.
• Economic globalization.
• History of online trading.
• Child labor policies.
• The Economic Naturalist.
• Foundations of economic theory.
• Impact of unemployment.
• Universal Basic Income.
• The role of consumerism.
• Healthcare economics – Canada’s Medicare.
• Reasons for recession.
• Cryptocurrency & environmental issues.

✨ Excellent Economic Essay Topics

Has economics always been a subject of meticulous research? The question is quite controversial, right? There is no specific time when economics started its rapid progress. Generally, economics remains the topic of interest since the establishment of capitalism in the Western world.

Nowadays, the economy is the main engine that moves our world forward. The way we do business determines the geopolitical situation in the world. Moreover, it influences many other parts of our lives.

Economics studying is of utmost importance nowadays. It helps to gain a better understanding of processes that put everything in motion.

Economics is quite broad, so it has a great variety of subfields. And this is a fantastic opportunity for us to generate as many essay ideas as possible. Here, you will find great economic topics for your paper. As mentioned before, we have divided them into several sections to ease your selection process. There’s a wide selection of free college essays samples on economics in our database, too. So be sure to check that out.

🤝 Socio-Economic Essay Topics

• The economic impact of racial segregation in America in the 1950s.
• Designing a just socio-economic system.
• Socio-economic status of Hong Kong in modern-day China. Explain how the city of Hong Kong gained a special status in China. Why did it emerge as one of the most important cities in its economy? Comment on the significance of Hong Kong in the international economic arena.
• Economic growth in the United States in the post-World War 2 period.
• Mobile banking in Saudi Arabia: towards understanding the factors that affect the sector.
• The importance of Dior’s bar suit to the women’s fashion industry.
• Economic problems in the 1980’s Soviet Union. Talk about the significant problems with the economy the USSR had in the 1980s. What role did they play in its collapse?
• What socio-economic problems did segregation in South Africa cause?
• History of economic development in the UAE. Discuss the economic miracle in the UAE and Dubai. Explain how the government could turn the city of Dubai into one of the most famous tourist destinations. What strategies were applied?
• Gender inequality and socio-economic development .
• The problem of poverty in Venezuela.
• How the socio-economic and political position of women changed between 1880 and 1940.
• The economic impact of COVID-19 on global trade.

• How do the three main economic groups interact with each other? There are three critical economic groups: – Consumers – Producers – Government Analyze the interaction of these groups with each other.
• Extended essay: how the study of economic data helped our society to advance?
• Western industrialization socio-economic impacts.
• Inequality at the top: not all billionaires have the same powers. Analyze billionaires’ net worth, liquidity, political power, and wealth security. Explain why they have unequal social status. What factors determine the influence of billionaires?
• An analysis of systems that help us measure agricultural development in a country.
• Is social media a useful tool for brand promotion?
• The phenomenon of dualism in economic development.

🗺️ International Economics Essay Topics

• Globalization and its impact on international economic relations. Define the term globalization. What role does globalization play in international economic relations? Provide specific examples of globalization’s impact on the global political economy.
• The lack of justice for the cheap international labor market. Discuss the issue of cheap labor in various countries. Why do some workers often lack fundamental human rights while others abuse moral norms? Analyze the causes and effects of inequality in the workplace.
• Japan macroeconomics: problems and possible solutions.
• The issue of mercantilism in the history of Great Britain. Analyze the rise and development of mercantilism in the history of Great Britain. To solidify your ideas, provide persuasive arguments, and appropriate examples of mercantilism.
• Why does the problem of environmental protection remain unresolved among global economies?
• Nissan Motor company’s international business.
• International environmental concerns in economics: the case of China .
• The issue of international criminal justice in industry. Explain why international businesses often avoid criminal justice after wrongdoings. Select one case of unethical behavior of a company’s CEO or regular employee. Briefly introduce the problem. What were the causes and effects? How was the issue resolved? Express your own opinion regarding the lack of criminal justice in business.
• The economy of Singapore and its role in international trade.
• International microeconomics trade dispute case study: US-China dispute on the exportation of raw materials.
• The phenomenon of the “gig economy” and its impact on the global economy.
• The effect of population growth in the international economy.
• International economics in the context of globalization.

• How does Brexit affect the economy of the European Union? Analyze the immediate impact of Brexit on the EU’s economy. Predict future advantages and disadvantages of Brexit for both: Great Britain and the EU.
• South Africa: international agribusiness, trade, and financing.
• Historical essay: the economy of the Dutch East India company.
• The issue of Mozambique’s economy and possible solutions. Investigate the issue of extreme poverty in Mozambique. What are some possible solutions to the problem of poverty? Base your suggestions on the country’s cultural, historical, and geographical aspects.
• Imbalances in the global economy. Discuss the imbalances between trading countries on the scale of the global economy. What solutions would you suggest to deal with this issue?
• How will global economies adapt to China’s growing power?
• Etihad Airways company managerial economics.

🛠️ Labor Economics Essay Topics

• Ford Motor company’s labor economics.
• Labor economics: child labor.
• The UPS firm perspective: the labor market.
• Gender inequality of wage rate in modern business. Research how and why gender inequality is still an issue in the modern world of economics. What are some ways to deal with the problem? Present your ideas accurately and effectively. Provide solid arguments and appropriate examples to prove your position.
• What are the best ways to increase labor productivity in business?
• Labor unions adverse effects on economics.
• The decrease of the labor force in modern industries. Talk about the rising rates of robotization in the majority of industries. How will it affect the traditional labor force? Comment on the problem of unemployment caused by labor automatization.
• Violations of labor rights of workers.
• Modern labor essay: how can an entrepreneur guarantee the minimum wage to their workers?
• How can labor geography help develop a special economic zone? Talk about labor geography and its effects on developing an exclusive economic zone. How does the geopolitical location of a particular country influence its level of economic development?
• Entrepreneurship in the organic cosmetics sphere.
• Gender-oriented labor trade unions. A case study. Discuss the gender-oriented trade unions and analyze their impact on our society.
• Child labor in the Turkish cotton industry.

• The connection between economic growth and demography. Analyze the connection between economic growth and its demographic context. Investigate both sides: – The issue of overpopulation – The problem of low birth rate. From an economic perspective, what problem is more dangerous?
• The issue of sex discrimination in the workplace.
• The effects of Landrum-Griffin Labor Act. Explore the labor Act of Landrum-Griffin that was passed in the US Congress in 1959. Discuss its implications and consequences. Discuss its implications and consequences.

🌆 Urban Economics Essay Topics

• Cities and their role in aggregate economics.
• Urbanization in Hong Kong and its effects on citizens.
• The urban planning of the city of New York: a critical analysis. Analyze the urban history of NY. How has the city been developing? Discuss revolutionary solutions to the past and problems of modern times.
• The impact of a city’s design on the local traffic.
• Dubai’s spatial planning: creative solutions for building a city in the desert.
• Globalization, urban political economy, and economic restructuring.
• How do urban areas affect local wildlife? Comment on how modern production technologies in urban areas impact the natural diversity of wildlife. What impact does the rapid economic progress have on the environment? Suggest possible solutions.
• Urban sociology: does the city make us better people?
• Why should people be more careful about investing in real estate? Discuss the issues of overinvestment into real estate. Consider the economic crisis of 2008 as an example.
• How can regional authorities help improve a city?
• Urban life and its effects on education.
• The economic development of a city’s metropolitan area: challenges and solutions.
• Main factors for the emergence of cities in the Middle Ages.
• The ethics of relocation: is it justified? Talk about the case of relocating locals when building projects of great magnitude. To what extent can it be justified? Mention its economic and ethical side.
• The difficulties behind the construction of “green” buildings. Discuss the relatively new phenomenon of environmentally friendly buildings. Analyze both sides: the pros and cons. What obstacles lie behind the “green” building? What opportunities do the “green” buildings offer? Elaborate on your ideas by providing clear arguments or counterarguments.
• What factors play a critical role in the success of retail productivity in cities?

⚽ Sports Economics Essay Topics

• Do teams with higher budgets perform better on the field?
• Corruption in European football leagues: a critical analysis. Investigate the corruption issue in the European football leagues. State reasons and solutions for the problem.
• The managerial catastrophe of Arsenal F.C.

• The NextG sports company’s communication planning.
• Roger D. Blair’s Sports Economics literary review. Write a literary analysis of Sports Economics by Roger D. Blair. Discuss his opinion on the economy of sports. Do you agree or disagree with his position? Provide compelling supportive arguments or strong counterarguments.
• How significant is the impact factor of a local team on a city’s economy?
• Kinsmen Sports Centre: marketing metrics innovation.
• What role does statistical data play in sports? Analyze the part of economic statistical data in different sports organizations. How can statistics help to develop an effective financing plan? Comment on the impact of financing on the performance of a sports club.
• Sports and energy drinks marketing analysis.
• Is there a connection between the lack of money and any contemporary issues in a sports team?
• Performance-enhancing drugs in sports.
• The business of FIFA: a financial analysis. Investigate the finances of FIFA. What economic factors make them so influential in the modern world of football?
• The global sports retail industry.
• The Olympics: logistics and economy. Discuss the logistics behind the Olympics Games event. How the Olympic Games impact the economy of the host country?

💉 Health Economics Essay Topics

• Is bioprinting the new future of medicine? Analyze the new market of organ printing and discuss its challenges. Investigate bioprinting from an economic perspective. Will the outputs cover the inputs? How will bioprinting impact the financial aspect of the health care sector?
• Cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical products in the United States. Comment on the immense cost-effectiveness of pharmaceuticals. What do you think is the price of pharmaceutical products reasonable? Is it ethical to set extremely high prices on the medicals?
• An economic evaluation of the antibiotics market.
• Health economics-SIC and NAICS.
• The financial side of cancer treatment: is it too expensive? Analyze the market for cancer treatment programs in various countries. Explore its costs and complications. What are some possible ways to reduce the price of cancer treatment and make it more affordable?
• The issue of fast food consumption: a multibillion-dollar market . Fast food has always been one of the notable causes of obesity, diabetes, and other illnesses. Investigate the economic aspect of the issue. Are high profits from fast food production worth peoples’ health conditions?
• History and evolution of healthcare economics.

• The financial management of a hospital: a case study.
• The issue of public healthcare in the USA. Write about the long-standing issue of medical sector operation in the USA. Analyze its history, financial, and social aspects.
• Demand in healthcare economics.
• What are the economic outcomes of a global pandemic? Taking the COVID-19 outbreak as an example, conduct research on the effects of a pandemic on the economy. How does it affect local economies? What impact does the quarantine have on the international economy? Provide appropriate examples to support your ideas.

💼 Business Economics Essay Topics

• When does an advertising campaign become unnecessary?
• Sustainable development of a nation’s economic stability. Discuss how a country can create a sustainable economy. Provide bright examples to solidify your position.
• How can a small business compete with monopolies?
• What are the limitations of the Lewis Model?
• The phenomenon of inflation: inevitable liability or a land of opportunity for our economies? Explore the process of inflation in modern economies. Does it only have adverse effects on the countries’ economies? Are there any advantages of inflation? Analyze it from a positive perspective.
• Economics, business, and sugar in the UK.
• The shadow economy of the finance sector. Dive into the backstage of the finance sector and research various “grey” areas where business can be done.
• Chinese and Japanese business systems comparison.
• Oil demand and its changes in the XXI century: a critical analysis. Analyze the oil sector and write about its fluctuation in the XXI century. How did the changes in oil demand affect the global economy?
• The social and economic impact of mass emigration.

🌠 40 More Good Economic Essay Topics

Scrolled through our ideas, but can’t find a suitable topic for yourself? No worries! We have more issues to share with you.

So, don’t stress out. Take a look at our list of economical essay topics. Here are 40 more ideas focusing on globalization and the history of economics.

🏤 Economic Globalization Essay Topics

• The impact of globalization on the tourist industry in the Caribbean . Analyze both: the positive and negative effects of globalization on the Caribbean. To make your paper well-structured, explore two advantages and two disadvantages. Don’t forget to improve your essay with strong evidence and appropriate examples!
• Toyota Motor Corporation: impacts of globalization.
• What are the effects of globalization on developing countries? To what extent do developing countries profit from globalization? Research the subject by comparing various examples.
• Defining globalization and its effects on current trade.
• Economic growth as a result of globalization: proper financial strategies. How can a country successfully achieve prosperity with globalization? Discuss proper economic strategies.
• The socio-political significance of the IT industry’s globalization.
• Human trafficking in developing nations as a result of globalization.

• Globalization and criminal justice policy.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of globalization?
• Globalization challenges and countermeasures.
• The effect of globalization on worldwide trade and employment rates.
• Economic integration within the European Union: a critical analysis. Talk about the history of economic integration within the EU. What are the negative and positive outcomes of economic integration?
• Globalization and food in Japan.
• Does globalization bring negative effects to cultural heritage and identity?
• The Industrial Revolution as the first step towards globalization. Focus on the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Discuss its precursors and consequences. Why is the revolution considered to be a starting point of globalization? Provide specific examples of globalization processes that occurred in the economic sector after the Industrial revolution.
• Globalization 2.0 an analysis of a book by David Rieff.
• Globalization effects on fundamentalism growth.
• Does direct investment by foreign businesses come with strings attached? Dive into the shady area of globalization and discuss how to direct foreign investment can bring problems of geopolitical scale.
• Effects of globalization on sexuality.
• Alibaba’s globalization strategy: an economic analysis.

🧮 Economic History Essay Topics

• The rapid economic growth of Europe during the Age of Discovery. Analyze the factors that brought economic growth to Europe during the Age of Discovery. What factors contributed to the dynamic economic progress of that time?
• Brazil’s economic history.
• History of capitalism: from the Renaissance to the United States of America. Discuss the origins of capitalism and its centuries-long path towards XXth century America. How the establishment of capitalism impacted the economy of the USA?
• Max Weber: economic history, the theory of bureaucracy, and politics as a vocation.
• 2008 Economic Crisis: origins and fallout. Talk about the 2008 Financial Crisis. Discuss its causes and outcomes. What should have been done differently to avoid the global crisis? Comment on the economic strategies countries used to recover from it.
• The economic marvel of Communist China: from rags to riches.
• What made world economic growth of the Renaissance possible?

• The economic history of Canada: how did the settlers facilitate economic growth?
• What did the major powers of the XIXth century base their economies on?
• The Rothschilds: political and financial role in the Industrial Revolution. Research the dynasty of Rothschilds and how they came to power. What was their role in Europe’s Industrial Revolution?
• The link between the “oil curse” and the economic history of Latin America.
• Roman Empire’s monetary policy: a socio-economic analysis.
• How did the demand for different goods change their value in the 2000s years? Analyze the demand for goods in the 2000s years and their change in value. Why do these fluctuations in demand for products and services occur?
• The history of economic thought.
• Soviet Union’s economic timeline: from the new Economic Policy to Reformation. Discuss the economic issues of the Soviet Union from the historical perspective. Why did the Soviet Union collapse? What improvements in the financial sector should have been done?
• History of France economics over the past 20 years.
• The history of economic analysis.
• The concept of serfdom and slavery as the main economic engine of the past. Dive into the idea of feudalism and serfdom. Discuss its social and economic aspects.
• The World Bank’s structure, history, activities.
• The history of Islamic banking: concepts and ideas.

💫 How to Write an Economics Essay?

Generally, essay writing on economics has the same structure as any other essay. However, there are some distinctive features of economic papers. Thus, it is essential to figure them out from the very beginning of your work.

You might be wondering what those aspects of the economic paper are. Well, we have an answer.

Below, you will find a detailed plan that explains the fundamental concepts of the essay writing process. So, don’t hesitate to use our tips! They are indeed helpful.

Pick a topic and dissect it. Picking the right topic is the very basis of writing a successful essay. Think of something that you will be interested in and make sure you understand the issue clearly. Also, don’t forget to check our ultimate economics essay topics and samples list!

Research it. After selecting the right idea from our economical essay topics, research your subject thoroughly. Try to find every fascinating and intriguing detail about it. Remember that you can always ask your fellow students, friends, or a teacher for help.

Come up with a thesis statement. A thesis statement is an essential element of your essay. It will determine your focus and guide the readers throughout your paper. Make your thesis secure and try to catch the reader’s attention using context and word choice.

Outline your essay. Never underestimate the power of a well-structured outline! Creating an essay outline can significantly help you to determine your general plan. Evaluate which economic framework you will be using to address the issue. State the main points of your thesis and antithesis. Make sure that they answer the central question of your work.

Write your introduction. First and foremost, a practical introduction should capture the readers’ attention and state the essay’s key topic. So, put enough effort to develop an outstanding introduction. It will create the first impression of your paper.

Moreover, an introduction should include a thesis statement. As we have mentioned above, a thesis plays a crucial role. Thus, make sure it is clearly stated.

Another significant feature of the introduction is its coherence with the body of your essay. Consequently, the introductory paragraph’s last statement has to present the subject of the next section, generically. Also, keep in mind that no more than three key points can be discussed in a paper, even if it is an extended essay.

Thoroughly work on the body paragraphs. Usually, the body of the essay contains several paragraphs. The number of these paragraphs will depend on the nature of your question. Be sure to create one section for every critical point that you make. This will make your paper properly-structured, and the reader will quickly get your ideas. For your convenience, we created a plan to develop your ideas in each paragraph, So, use it and make your writing process easier!

• Argument. Present your argument in the topic sentence of the paragraph in a way that directly answers the question. A hint: the most effective way to introduce the critical point is to place the topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. This will help the readers to concentrate their attention on a specific idea.
• Comment and discussion. Explain the meaning of your argument and provide an economic analysis. Present clear evidence and persuasive arguments to solidify your position.
• Connection. Link your comments with the vital point of the paragraph. Demonstrate the coherence of your evidence with the point.
• Diagrams, tables, charts. If necessary, provide the reader with visual aids. Sometimes, an appropriate diagram or a suitable chart can say more than words. Besides, your paper will look more professional if you use any kind of visual aids.

Conclude your essay. In your conclusion, summarize and synthesize your work by restating your thesis. Also, it is crucial to strengthen it by mentioning the practical value of your findings. Remember to make your essay readable by choosing appropriate wording and avoiding too complex grammar constructions.

Thank you for visiting our page! Did you enjoy our article and learned something new? We are glad to help you. Don’t forget to leave a comment and share the article with others!

🔗 References

• High School Economics Topics: Econlib, The Library of Economics and Liberty
• Guide to Writing an Economics Essay: The Economics Tutor
• How to Write the Introduction of Your Development Economics Paper: David Evans, Center For Global Development
• Senior Essay: Department of Economics, Yale University
• Developing A Thesis: Maxine Rodburg and The Tutors of the Writing Center at Harvard University
• Academic Essay Writing, Some Guidelines: Department of Economics, Carleton University
• The Writing Process: Writing Centre Resource Guide, LibGuides at Dalhousie University
• Research Papers: KU Writing Center, the University of Kansas
• Unpacking the Topic: University of Southern Queensland
• Economic Issues: PIIE, Peterson Institute for International Economics
• Areas of Research: EPI, Economic Policy Institute
• Top 100 Economics Blogs Of 2023: Prateek Agarwal, Intelligent Economist
• Current Environmental Economic Topics, Environmental Economics: US EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Hot Topics in the U.S. Economy: The Balance
• Share via Facebook
• Share via X
• Share via LinkedIn
• Share via email

By clicking "Post Comment" you agree to IvyPanda’s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions . Your posts, along with your name, can be seen by all users.

A State-Ranker’s Guide to Writing 20/20 Economics Essays

So, you want to know how to improve your preliminary and HSC economics essay...

Cory Aitchison

State Ranks (Economics and Chemistry) & 99.95 ATAR

1. Introduction to this Guide

So, you want to know how to improve your preliminary and HSC economics essay writing? Look no further! In this guide, I’ll be covering key tips to help YOU smash the structure, amaze with your analysis, conquer the contemporary, and ultimately master the mystery of maximising your marks.

My name is Cory Aitchison, currently one of the Economics tutors at Project Academy . I completed the HSC in 2018, achieving a 99.95 ATAR as well as two state ranks — 6th in economics and 12th in chemistry. Graduating from Knox Grammar School, I also topped my grade in economics and was awarded Dux of the School for STEM. Believe it or not, at the beginning of Year 11 I initially struggled with economics due to the transition in conceptual thinking required in approaching economic assessments in comparison to my other subjects such as English. However, through Year 11 and Year 12, I built up key tips and strategies — that I’ll be sharing with you in this guide — to help me not only consistently achieve top marks in my internal assessments, but to ultimately go on to achieve the results I did in the HSC.

2. The Correct Way to Write

First off, you need to understand something: HSC economics essays are NOT english essays! They aren’t scientific discussions, nor geography reports, nor historical recounts. They’re unique and often quite different from other essays that you might’ve done previously in high school. The style of writing and approach to answering questions can be confusing at first, but follow these tips and you’ll be ready in no time:

Phrasing should be understandable and concise

Unlike some subjects where sophisticated phrasing is beneficial to getting marks, HSC economics essays should emphasise getting your point across with clarity. This means don’t run your sentences on for too long, be aware of any superfluous words, and make sure you actually understand yourself what you’re trying to say in a sentence.

For example:

GOOD: “An increase in interest rates should lead to decreased economic growth.”

NOT GOOD: “As a result of a rise or increase in interest rate levels from their previous values, the general state of economic activity in the domestic economy may begin to decrease and subsequently indicate the resultant situation of a decrease in economic growth.”

“Understandable” does not mean slang or lacking in terminology

Just because you want to get a point across, doesn’t mean you should resort to slang. In fact, using economic terminology is a strong way to boost your standing in the eyes of the marker — if you use it correctly! Always make sure you use full sentences, proper English grammar, and try and incorporate correct economic terms where possible.

GOOD: “This was a detrimental outcome for the economy.”

NOT GOOD: “This was a pretty bad outcome for the economy.”

GOOD: “The Australian Dollar depreciated.”

NOT GOOD: “The Australian Dollar decreased in value.”

Analysis should be done using low modality

Modality just refers to the confidence of your language — saying something “will” happen is strong modality, whereas saying something “might” happen is considered low modality. Since a large portion of economics is about applying theory, we have to make sure that we are aware that we are doing just that — talking about the theoretical, and so we can’t say for sure that anything will happen as predicted.

Some useful words include:

May, Might, Should, Could, Can theoretically

Don’t use words like:

Must, Will, Has to, Always

3. How to use Statistics

“What’s most important is that this contemporary is used to bring meaning or context to your argument…”

Using contemporary (statistics) can often seem straightforward at first, but using it effectively is usually harder than it looks. Contemporary generally refers to applying real-world facts to your analysis to help strengthen (or weaken) the theoretical arguments. This can include many different statistics or pieces of information, including:

• Historic economic indicators, such as GDP, inflation, GINI coefficients, exchange rates, or unemployment rates
• Trends or economic goals, such as long-term GDP growth rates, or the stability band for inflation
• Names of economic policies, such as examples of fiscal or microeconomic policies
• Specifics of economic policies, such as the amount spent on infrastructure in 2017

Whatever statistics you deem relevant to include in your essay, what’s most important is that this contemporary is used to bring meaning or context to your argument — just throwing around random numbers to show off your memorisation skills won’t impress the marker, and in fact might appear as if you were making them up on the spot. Rather, your use of contemporary should actively improve your analysis.

GOOD: “Following a period of growth consistently below the long-term trend-line of 3%, the depreciation of the AUD to 0.71USD in 2017 preceded an increase in economic growth to a 10-year high of 3.4% in 2018.”

NOT GOOD: “Economic growth increased by 1 percentage point in 2017 to 2018”

NOT GOOD: “GDP was $1.32403 trillion in 2017”

GOOD: “The 2017 Budget’s Infrastructure Plan injected $42 billion into the economy — up 30% from 2016’s $31 billion, and 20% higher than the inflation-adjusted long-term expenditure.”

NOT GOOD: “The 2017 Budget’s Infrastructure Plan injected $42 billion into the economy”

That in mind, don’t think that these statistics have to be overly specific. As long as the general ideas gets across, it’s fine. You don’t need to say “$1,505,120” — just “$1.5 million” will suffice.

Ask yourself: if I get rid of the contemporary from my paragraphs, does the essay still have enough content?

Further, don’t get roped into the “contemporary trap” — where you fall into the mindset that “if I memorise all these statistics, my essay will get good marks”. Including numbers and contemporary at the expense of having a robust theoretical explanation and analysis will definitely be detrimental in getting you top marks. Particularly in trial exams and the HSC when you’ve got all these numbers floating in your head, it can be tempting to try and include as many as you can (often just because you can!). To avoid this, always try and focus your arguments on analysis and syllabus content first, contemporary second. Ask yourself: if I get rid of the contemporary from my paragraph, does the essay still have enough content?

4. Must Have Insightful “However”s

If you really want to extend your analysis and show the marker that you know your stuff, including insightful “however”s is a strong way to do it. What I mean by this is that for each of your paragraphs, try and include a counterpoint that highlights the flexible nature of economic theory. There are broadly two kinds of “however”s:

Theoretical “However”s

These are counterpoints that are based on theory — often there will be theoretical limitations for many of the concepts you come across in economics. It’s always important to include these limitations as it reinforces your knowledge of the actual content of economics.

“Although the Budget and fiscal policy can be effective at stimulating economic growth, it is also restricted by the “implementation time lag” limitation since it is only introduced annually.”

Contemporary “However”s

These are counterpoints that are based on contemporary — highlighting how although something should happen theoretically, this isn’t usually what is observed in reality. This can be particularly powerful in that it combines your knowledge of theory with your analysis of contemporary.

“Despite the expansionary stance that the RBA adopted in 2012–2016 for monetary policy, Australia’s annual GDP growth rate has remained below the trend rate of 3% — against the theoretical expectations. This could be attributed to factors such as …”

5. How to Interpret the Question

When you first look at a question, before you even put pen to paper, you need to come up with a plan of attack — how can you ensure that you answer the question correctly, and give the markers what they want? There are three main points to look for when interpreting essay questions:

Knowing your verbs

As you may (or may not) know, NESA has a bank of words that they like to pull from when writing questions, and these words impact how they want their question answered. These verbs should help steer your analysis onto the right path. For example:

Explain: “Relate causes and effects”

To answer these questions, you have to demonstrate a thorough understanding of how theory and events impact each other and the economy. This verb particularly emphasises the idea of a process — you need to be able to make clear links as to how each step leads to the next, rather than just jumping to the outcomes.

Analyse: “Draw out and relate implications”

These questions usually wants you to investigate the connections between different aspects of economic theory. Generally this involves showing a holistic understanding of how different areas (such as micro- and macroeconomic policies) come together to make a cohesive impact on the economy. It usually helps to think back to the syllabus and how the points are introduced when figuring out which ideas to link together.

Assess/Evaluate: “Make a judgement based on value/a criteria”

These require you to not only critically analyse a topic but also come to a conclusion given the arguments you provided. This type of question usually gets you to make a judgement of the effectiveness of some economic theory — such as the ability for economic policies to achieve their goals. Make sure you actually include this judgement in your answer — for example, say things like “strong impact”, “highly influential”, “extremely detrimental”.

Discuss: “Provide points for and/or against”

Similar to assess, discuss wants you to provide arguments towards and against a particular topic. Although it doesn’t require a specific judgement to be made, it does place greater emphasis on showing a well-rounded approach to the argument — providing relatively equal weightings towards both the positive and negative sides of the discussion.

Linking to the syllabus

When trying to understand what the question wants from you, I found the best way to approach it is to consider what points in the syllabus it is referring to (To do this, you need to have a solid understanding of the syllabus in the first place). Once you’ve located it, try drawing upon other topics in the vicinity of that dot point to help you answer the question.

For example, if the question mentions “trends in Australia’s trade and financial flows”, then you know from the syllabus that you probably need to talk about value, composition and direction in order to get high marks. Further, it may also be worth it to bring in ideas from the Balance of Payments, as this is the next dot point along in the syllabus.

Digging into the source

For essay questions that provide a source for you to include in your answer, this is another goldmine from which you can discern what the marker really wants. If the source mentions microeconomic policy, it probably wasn’t on accident! Even if it may not be obvious how to link that to the question immediately, try and draw upon your knowledge and implications and see if there’s a different angle that you might be missing.

6. Putting it All together — Structuring your essay

My essays usually consisted of four main parts: an introduction, a background paragraph, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Introduction

Your introduction should not be long. I rarely wrote an introduction longer than three sentences.

First sentence: Answer the question (thesis)

Try and answer the question, while including the main key words of the question in your answer. Don’t directly restate it — instead, try and add meaning to it in a way that represents what you’re trying to get across in your essay.

For example: if the question was “Assess the impact of microeconomic policy in improving economic growth in Australia”, my first sentence might be “Microeconomic policy has had a significant impact in increasing aggregate supply and thus long-term economic growth in Australia since the 1960s”.

Next sentences: Introduce your arguments/paragraphs

In this part, it’s fine to almost list your paragraphs — there’s no need to do a whole sentence explaining each. That’s what the paragraphs themselves are for.

For example: using the same question as above, my next sentence might be “Although trade liberalisation may have been detrimental for short-term growth in manufacturing, policies such as competition policy and wage decentralisation have been highly effective in fostering economic growth in Australia”.

Background Paragraph

The aim of a background paragraph is threefold: to get across the main theory that underpins your argument; to establish the economic context for your argument; and to show the marker that you “know your stuff”.

For example, if the essay was on monetary policy, you may want to describe the process of Domestic Market Operations (how the reserve bank changes the cash rate) in your background paragraph, so that you don’t need to mention it each time you bring up changing stances. Further, it may be good to showcase the current economic climate — such as GDP growth rate and inflation — to give context to your analysis in your essay.

Some ideas for what to include in this paragraph include:

• Key theory such as DMOs or the rationale for macroeconomic policies
• Economic indicators that provide context to the time period that you’re working in, such as growth rates, inflation, unemployment rates, exchange rates, cash rates, etc.
• A brief description of the recent Budget (if talking about fiscal policy), including the stance and outcome

Bear in mind that this paragraph shouldn’t be too long — it isn’t the focus of your essay! Instead, aim for around 100–150 words at most. At this point in your essay, it may also be good to include a graph (more on this later).

Body Paragraphs

There’s no set rule for how many body paragraphs to include in your essay — I generally aim for at least 4, but there’s no real limit to how many you can (or should) write! Unlike english essays, it’s totally acceptable to just split a paragraph in two if you feel like the idea is too large to be written in one paragraph (as long as each paragraph makes sense on its own).

When writing a paragraph, I usually follow this structure:

Topic sentence

This is where you answer the question, and outline your argument or idea for this paragraph. If you are doing a discuss/assess/evaluate essay, try and make your judgement or side obvious. For example: “Trade liberalisation has been detrimental in its impact on economic growth in manufacturing industries”.

These sentences are where you bring together the theory and contemporary to build up your argument. Remember, the theory should be the focus, and contemporary a bonus. Try and weave a “story” into your analysis if you can — you should be showing the marker how everything fits together, how causes lead to effects, and ultimately bringing together relevant economic concepts to answer the question. Feel free to also include graphs here when they help strengthen your argument.

Fit in your “however” statements here. For discuss questions, this however section may take up a larger part of the paragraph if you choose to showcase two opposing arguments together.

Link your argument back to your overarching thesis, and answer the question. Following on from your “however” statement, it can often be a good idea to use linking words such as “nevertheless”, “notwithstanding”, or “despite this” to show that taking into account your arguments presented in the “however” statement, the overarching idea for the paragraph still remains.

Like the introduction, your conclusion should not be overly long. Rather, it should briefly restate the arguments made throughout your essay, and bring them all together again to reinforce how these points help answer the question.

Aggregate Demand / Supply Graph

Graphs are a great way to add extra spice to your essay — not only does it help strengthen your explanations of economic theory, it also makes it look like you wrote more pages than you actually did! Graphs, such as aggregate demand graphs, business cycle graphs, and Phillips curves, can be great in reinforcing your ideas when you mention them in your essay. They usually come either in background paragraphs or body paragraphs, and it’s usually best to draw them about a quarter to a third of the page in size. It’s also good practice to label them as “Figure 1” or “Graph 1”, and refer to them as such in your actual paragraph.

Although they can be beneficial, don’t try and force them either. Not all essays have appropriate graphs, and trying to include as many as you can without regards for their relevance may come across negatively in the eyes of the marker.

8. How to Answer Source Questions

If your essay question involves a source, try and refer to it multiple times throughout your essay. For example, this can be in the background paragraph and two of your body paragraphs. Rather than just adding in an “…as seen in the source” to one of your sentences, try and actively analyse it — show the marker that you understand why they included it, and how it actually helps strengthen your arguments.

9. Plan You Essay

Don’t be afraid to use the first page of your answer booklet as a planning page. Taking a couple minutes before you answer the question to lay out your scaffold for body paragraphs is a great first step to helping ensure that you actually end up answering the question to the best of your abilities. It also serves as a great reminder to keep checking as you finish each paragraph to ensure that you actually wrote what you intended. Just make sure to make it clear to the marker that those scribbles on the page are just a plan, and not your actual essay!

10. How to Prepare for Essays in the Exam

I find it much better to prepare paragraphs and ideas that you can draw upon to help “build up” a response during the exam itself.

Don’t go into the exam with a pre-prepared essay that you are ready to regurgitate — not only are there too many possibilities to prepare for, but it’s also unlikely that you’ll actually answer the question well with a pre-prepared response.

Instead of memorising sets of essays before the exam, I find it much better to prepare paragraphs and ideas that you can draw upon to help “build up” a response during the exam itself. What I mean by this, is that in your mind you have a “bank of different paragraphs” and ideas from all the topics in the syllabus, and when you read the exam, you start drawing from different paragraphs here and there to best formulate a response that answers the question. This allows you to be flexible in answering almost any question they can throw at you.

On top of this, ensure you have a solid foundation in both the theory and contemporary — knowing what statistics or topics to include in your essay is useless knowledge unless you have the actual content to back it up.

Now that you know the basics of how to write a good HSC economics essay, it’s time to start practising! Have a go, try out different styles, and find what works best for you. Good luck!

If you would like to learn from state ranking HSC Economics tutors at Project Academy, we offer a 3 week trial for our courses. Click to learn more !

Exam Prep: How to Consolidate Knowledge Ahead of Exam Time

Consolidating your knowledge before exam season is key to getting great marks. Learn the key techniques used to absorb and retain content.

Riddhish Chanda

Chemistry Team at Project Academy

Guide: How to Bounce Back From a Bad Assessment Mark

My goal throughout this article is to destigmatise the “f-word” (failure, to be clear), share tips to help you bounce back from bad marks, and motivate you to kick a** for the rest of your HSC!

Michelle Zhang

3U Maths Tutor, All-rounder at NSG

Module A Exemplar Essay – Poetry of Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes

The following essay was written by Project Academy English Tutor, Marko Beocanin

Marko Beocanin

99.95 ATAR & 3 x State Ranker

HSC Parents Guide: How to Create an Effective Learning Environment at Home

Whilst COVID-19 lockdowns are gradually being lifted, most Australian kids...

Project Academy

TEAM OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS

Maximise Your Chances Of Coming First At School

Trial any Project Academy course for 3 weeks.

NSW's Top 1% Tutors

Unlimited Tutorials

NSW's Most Effective Courses

Access to Project's iPad

Access to Exclusive Resources

Access to Project's Study Space

Tips for writing economics essays

Some tips for writing economics essays  Includes how to answer the question, including right diagrams and evaluation – primarily designed for A Level students.

1. Understand the question

Make sure you understand the essential point of the question. If appropriate, you could try and rephrase the question into a simpler version.

For example:

Q. Examine the macroeconomic implications of a significant fall in UK House prices, combined with a simultaneous loosening of Monetary Policy.

In plain English.

• Discuss the effect of falling house prices on the economy
• Discuss the effect of falling interest rates (loose monetary policy) on economy

In effect, there are two distinct parts to this question. It is a valid response, to deal with each separately, before considering both together.

It helps to keep reminding yourself of the question as you answer. Sometimes candidates start off well, but towards the end forget what the question was. Bear in mind, failure to answer the question can lead to a very low mark.

2. Write in simple sentences

For clarity of thought, it is usually best for students to write short sentences. The main thing is to avoid combining too many ideas into one sentence. If you write in short sentences, it may sound a little stilted; but it is worth remembering that there are no extra marks for a Shakespearian grasp of English. (at least in Economics Exams)

Look at this response to a question:

Q. What is the impact of higher interest rates?

Higher interest rates increase the cost of borrowing. As a result, those with mortgages will have lower disposable income. Also, consumers have less incentive to borrow and spend on credit cards. Therefore consumption will be lower. This fall in consumption will cause a fall in Aggregate Demand and therefore lead to lower economic growth. A fall in AD will also reduce inflation.

I could have combined 1 or 2 sentences together, but here I wanted to show that short sentences can aid clarity of thought. Nothing is wasted in the above example.

Simple sentences help you to focus on one thing at once, which is another important tip.

3. Answer the question

Quite frequently, when marking economic essays, you see a candidate who has a reasonable knowledge of economics, but unfortunately does not answer the question. Therefore, as a result, they can get zero for a question. It may seem harsh, but if you don’t answer the question, the examiner can’t give any marks.

At the end of each paragraph you can ask yourself; how does this paragraph answer the question? If necessary, you can write a one-sentence summary, which directly answers the question. Don’t wait until the end of the essay to realise you have answered a different question.

Discuss the impact of Euro membership on UK fiscal and monetary policy?

Most students will have revised a question on: “The benefits and costs of the Euro. Therefore, as soon as they see the Euro in the title, they put down all their notes on the benefits and costs of the Euro. However, this question is quite specific; it only wishes to know the impact on fiscal and monetary policy.

The “joke” goes, put 10 economists in a room and you will get 11 different answers. Why? you may ask. The nature of economics is that quite often there is no “right” answer. It is important that we always consider other points of view, and discuss various different, potential outcomes. This is what we mean by evaluation.

Macro-evaluation

• Depends on the state of the economy – full capacity or recession?
• Time lags – it may take 18 months for interest rates to have an effect
• Depends on other variables in the economy . Higher investment could be offset by fall in consumer spending.
• The significance of factors . A fall in exports to the US is only a small proportion of UK AD. However, a recession in Europe is more significant because 50% of UK exports go to EU.
• Consider the impact on all macroeconomic objectives . For example, higher interest rates may reduce inflation, but what about economic growth, unemployment, current account and balance of payments?
• Consider both the supply and demand side . For example, expansionary fiscal policy can help to reduce demand-deficient unemployment, however, it will be ineffective in solving demand-side unemployment (e.g. structural unemployment)

Example question :

The effect of raising interest rates will reduce consumer spending.

• However , if confidence is high, higher interest rates may not actually discourage consumer spending.

If the economy is close to full capacity a rise in interest rates may reduce inflation but not reduce growth. (AD falls from AD1 to AD2)

• However , if there is already a slowdown in the economy, rising interest rates may cause a recession. (AD3 to AD3)

Micro-evaluation

1. The impact depends on elasticity of demand

In both diagrams, we place the same tax on the good, causing supply to shift to the left.

• When demand is price inelastic, the tax causes only a small fall in demand.
• If demand is price elastic, the tax causes a bigger percentage fall in demand.

2. Time lag

In the short term, demand for petrol is likely to be price inelastic. However, over time, consumers may find alternatives, e.g. they buy electric cars. In the short-term, investment will not increase capacity, but over time, it may help to increase a firms profitability. Time lags.

3. Depends on market structure

If markets are competitive, then we can expect prices to remain low. However, if a firm has monopoly power, then we can expect higher prices.

4. Depends on business objectives

If a firm is seeking to maximise profits, we can expect prices to rise. However, if a firm is seeking to maximise market share, it may seek to cut prices – even if it means less profit.

5. Behavioural economics

In economics, we usually assume individuals are rational and seeking to maximise their utility. However, in the real world, people are subject to bias and may not meet expectations of classical economic theory. For example, the present-bias suggest consumers will give much higher weighting to present levels of happiness and ignore future costs. This may explain over-consumption of demerit goods and under-consumption of merit goods. See: behavioural economics

Exam tips for economics – Comprehensive e-book guide for just £5

9 thoughts on “Tips for writing economics essays”

I really want to know the difference between discussion questions and analysis questions and how to answer them in a correct way to get good credit in Economics

Analysis just involves one sided answers while Discussion questions involve using two points of view

This is a great lesson learnd by me

how can I actually manage my time

The evaluation points in this article are really useful! The thing I struggle with is analysis and application. I have all the knowledge and I have learnt the evaluation points like J-curve analysis and marshall learner condition, but my chains of reasoning are not good enough. I will try the shorter sentences recommended in this article.

What kind of method for costing analysis is most suitable for a craft brewery, in order to analyze the cost of production of different types of beer_

Really useful!Especially for the CIE exam papers

Does anyone know how to evaluate in those advantages/disadvantages essay questions where you would basically analyse the benefits of something and then evaluate? Struggling because wouldn’t the evaluation just be the disadvantages ?? Like how would you evaluate without just stating the disadvantage?

This is an excellent source of adbvise

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Economics Essay Topics: Valuable Tips

Economics is a subject that has gained immense popularity in recent times. It deals with interesting economics topics like the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Moreover, it is a social science that provides insights into how individuals, businesses, and governments make decisions that affect the overall economy. Given its importance, economics essays have become a crucial part of the curriculum for students pursuing various degrees.

Short Description

In this article, our essay writer will take you on a journey through various exciting topics in economics. We'll cover everything from big-picture concepts like macroeconomics to more focused ideas like microeconomics, international trade, and economic policy. Our goal is to help you find the perfect topic for your economics essay—one that matches your interests and demonstrates your understanding of how economics affects the real world.

🎓 What is Economics: Understanding the Importance

Before we dive into the different economics essay topics, it is crucial to understand what economics is and its importance. Economics is a social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It is concerned with how individuals, businesses, and governments make decisions about allocating resources to satisfy their unlimited wants and needs.

Economics as a science provides a framework for analyzing society's production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. It helps us understand how markets work and how they can be improved to increase efficiency and welfare. Moreover, economic principles have significant implications for various social issues, including poverty, inequality, environmental sustainability, and public policy. By studying economics essay topics, we can gain insights into these issues and develop policies that promote rapid economic growth and social welfare.

When it comes to economics, the range of essay topics is vast and covers various aspects of human interactions on different levels. With so many possibilities to explore, we understand the difficulty of narrowing down your options. That's why our ' write me an essay ' experts are here to offer their guidance and support. We're ready to help you select the ideal topic if you wish to learn how to write informative essay on economics.

🧩 Tips for Choosing Your Ideal Topic

Choosing a topic is the first and most crucial step in writing an economics essay. Your topic will determine the direction and scope of your essay. Here are some tips for choosing the ideal topic from our finance essay writing service :

Tip 1: Understand the relevance of economics to daily life and choose a topic with practical applications.

Recognize that economics plays a significant role in our everyday lives, as it encompasses the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Therefore, when selecting a topic, ensure its societal relevance. For instance, you might consider exploring 'The Impact of Automation on Employment Rates' or 'The Role of Government Regulations in Controlling Inflation.'

Tip 2: Opt for narrow economics research topics to make them more manageable and allow for in-depth exploration.

Instead of tackling broad subjects like 'International Trade,' narrow down your focus to something like 'The Effects of Tariffs on Small Businesses in the Agriculture Sector' or 'The Relationship Between Exchange Rates and Export Performance in Developing Countries.' By delving deeper into a specific aspect, you can provide more detailed financial analysis and insights.

Tip 3: Conduct preliminary research to identify current topics, debates, and research gaps.

Before finalizing your topic, engage in preliminary research to gain an understanding of recent trends and issues in economics. Explore academic journals, news articles, and books to discover areas that warrant further exploration. For example, you might come across intriguing research gaps such as 'The Impact of Cryptocurrencies on Financial Markets' or 'The Role of Behavioral Economics in Shaping Consumer Decision-Making.'

Tip 4: Seek input from peers or professors to enhance your topic selection process.

Collaborate with your peers during brainstorming sessions to generate fresh ideas and gain different perspectives on potential topics. Additionally, seek guidance from your professor, who can offer valuable insights and feedback to refine your chosen topic. For instance, you can discuss your ideas with classmates and receive suggestions like 'The Influence of Economic Policies on Income Inequality' or receive expert advice from your professor on 'The Implications of Globalization on Developing Economies.'

And if you want expert assistance in applying theoretical concepts to practice and creating an exceptional paper, then address your request to our custom essay writing services .

🗒 Economics Essay Topics: A Comprehensive List

If you are looking for a comprehensive list of interesting economics essay topics, you have come to the right place. Here are some ideas that you can consider:

• Central Banks in Fiscal Policy : Examine central banks' roles in setting interest rates, regulating money supply, and managing inflation.
• Automation and Labor Market : Analyze the impact of automation on jobs, including worker displacement and new job creation.
• Immigration and Labor Market : Explore immigration's effects on wages, job opportunities, and economic growth.
• Economics of Climate Change : Discuss the costs and economic impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Economics of Healthcare : Investigate healthcare costs, the role of insurance, and the impact of healthcare policies on the economy.
• Government's Economic Role : Examine how government policies, both fiscal and monetary, affect the economy.
• Globalization's Economic Impact : Analyze how globalization affects industries, trade, and employment.
• Poverty and Inequality : Explore the causes and effects of poverty and inequality and the role of government interventions.
• Economics of Education : Investigate education costs, its impact on economic growth, and the government's role in education.
• Marketplace Competition : Discuss how competition promotes economic growth, innovation, and consumer welfare.
• Economics of Entrepreneurshi p: Examine factors promoting entrepreneurship and its impact on the economy.
• Quantitative Easing and Recovery : Analyze how large-scale asset purchases influence inflation, employment, and economic stability.
• Renewable Energy Economics : Assess the costs, benefits, and challenges of transitioning to renewable energy.
• Technological Innovation : Explore how R&D and digitalization impact productivity, job creation, and economic competitiveness.
• Behavioral Economics and Decision-Making : Investigate how cognitive biases and heuristics influence consumer behavior and market outcomes.

Ready to Advance Yourself in the Economics Field?

Get the essay that will have even experts in awe!

🧮 Macroeconomics Essay Topics

Macroeconomics is a fascinating and complex field of study that aims to understand the overall performance of an economy. It takes into account various factors such as economic growth, inflation, unemployment, and trade policies. If you are looking for some thought-provoking macroeconomics essay topics, here are a few that you might find interesting:

• The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Economic Growth
• Monetary Policy and Inflation Control: Case Studies from Different Countries
• The Role of Central Banks in Modern Economies
• The Effects of Globalization on National Economies
• Unemployment Rates and Economic Stability
• The Influence of Political Stability on Economic Development
• The Economics of Recession and Recovery
• Debt Crisis: Causes and Solutions
• The Relationship Between Exchange Rates and International Trade
• The Future of Cryptocurrencies in the Global Economy

📉 Microeconomics Essay Topics

Microeconomics focuses on the behavior of individual consumers and businesses in the market. The principles of microeconomics are used to analyze how these entities make decisions, interact with each other, and influence the overall economy. If you're interested in exploring this field further, here are some microeconomics essay topics that you might find interesting:

• The Theory of Consumer Choice and Its Applications
• Market Structures: Comparing Perfect Competition, Monopolies, and Oligopolies
• Price Elasticity of Demand: Importance and Calculation
• The Role of Government in Market Failures
• The Economics of Labor Markets and Wage Determination
• The Impact of Minimum Wage Laws on Small Businesses
• Behavioral Economics: How Human Psychology Affects Economic Decisions
• Game Theory and Its Applications in Business
• The Economics of Information and Market Efficiency
• The Impact of Technology on Production and Costs

🎏 International Economics Essay Topics

International economics deals with the economic interactions between countries, including trade, investment, and migration. Here are some international economic relations topics:

• The Pros and Cons of Free Trade Agreements
• The Impact of Tariffs and Trade Wars on Global Economies
• Exchange Rate Dynamics and International Trade
• The Role of International Organizations in Global Trade
• Economic Integration: Case Studies of the EU and NAFTA
• The Economics of Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities
• Foreign Direct Investment: Benefits and Risks
• Global Supply Chains and Their Economic Implications
• The Role of Multinational Corporations in Globalization
• The Impact of Currency Crises on Emerging Markets

📉 Behavioral Economics Essay Topics

Behavioral economics combines psychology and economics to analyze how people make decisions. Here are some behavioral economics essay topics:

• The Role of Cognitive Biases in Economic Decision-Making
• How Social Preferences Influence Market Outcomes
• Behavioral Insights into Consumer Credit Usage
• The Impact of Behavioral Economics on Public Policy
• Nudging and Its Effectiveness in Changing Economic Behavior
• The Psychology of Saving and Investment Decisions
• The Influence of Emotions on Economic Decisions
• Behavioral Economics and Health-Related Decision-Making
• The Economics of Happiness: Measuring Well-Being
• The Role of Heuristics in Financial Decision-Making

🚑 Healthcare Economics Essay Topics

Healthcare economics analyzes how the healthcare system operates, including the costs and benefits of healthcare interventions. Here are some healthcare economics essay topics:

• The Economics of Universal Healthcare Systems
• The Impact of Health Insurance on Medical Costs
• The Role of Government Regulation in the Pharmaceutical Industry
• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Preventive Healthcare
• The Economics of Aging Populations and Healthcare Demand
• The Effectiveness of Public Health Interventions
• The Impact of Technological Advancements on Healthcare Costs
• Healthcare Disparities: Economic Causes and Solutions
• The Economics of Mental Health Services
• The Role of Economic Incentives in Health Behavior Change

🌎 Consumerism Essay Topics

Consumerism refers to the cultural and economic mindset that encourages the acquisition of goods and services. Here are some consumerism essay topics:

• The Impact of Advertising on Consumer Behavior
• Consumerism and Its Effects on the Environment
• The Role of Credit in Modern Consumerism
• The Psychology Behind Impulse Buying
• The Economic Implications of the Sharing Economy
• The Relationship Between Consumerism and Economic Growth
• Ethical Consumerism: Trends and Economic Impact
• The Influence of Social Media on Consumer Spending
• The Role of Consumer Protection Laws in Market Economies
• The Impact of Globalization on Consumer Choices

📚 Economic History Topics

Economic history is a field of study that examines the historical development of economic systems, policies, and institutions, as well as the social, political, and cultural factors that have influenced economic outcomes over time. Here are the 10 interesting topics:

• The Great Depression: Causes, Consequences, and Recovery
• The Economic Impact of World War II
• The Industrial Revolution and Economic Development
• The Evolution of Trade and Commerce in Ancient Civilizations
• The Economic Effects of Colonialism
• The Rise and Fall of the Gold Standard
• The History of Banking and Financial Institutions
• Economic Reforms in Post-Soviet States
• The Role of Agriculture in Early Economic Systems
• The Economic History of the Silk Road

📊 Public Finance Research Topics

Public finance research focuses on the study of the government's role in the allocation, distribution, and management of resources within an economy. It encompasses the analysis of public revenues, expenditures, taxation policies, and the impact of government interventions on economic outcomes and social welfare. Here are 10 relevant economics papers topics:

• The Role of Government in Economic Stabilization
• The Impact of Taxation on Economic Growth
• Public Debt and Its Implications for Future Generations
• The Economics of Social Security Systems
• Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality
• The Effectiveness of Government Spending on Education and Healthcare
• The Role of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Development
• The Economic Impact of Environmental Taxes
• The Challenges of Pension Fund Management
• The Role of Fiscal Rules in Economic Governance

Closing Remarks 

To wrap up, economics is a subject that offers insights into how the world works. It provides a framework for analyzing complex social issues, including poverty, inequality, and public policy. Therefore, exploring economics essays topics is an excellent way of understanding the subject's relevance in the real world.

By following the tips for choosing your ideal topic and exploring the comprehensive list of economics topics for an essay, you can write an insightful and inspiring paper that contributes to the ongoing dialogue on economics.

Looking for Someone to Reduce Your College Stress?

Our expert writers can craft A+ essays when you want and how you want

Annie Lambert

specializes in creating authoritative content on marketing, business, and finance, with a versatile ability to handle any essay type and dissertations. With a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a passion for social issues, her writing not only educates but also inspires action. On EssayPro blog, Annie delivers detailed guides and thought-provoking discussions on pressing economic and social topics. When not writing, she’s a guest speaker at various business seminars.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

Updated Topics

Economics Essay Topics

180 + Easy Economics Essay Topics To Get You Inspired

13 min read

Published on: May 16, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 30, 2024

Share this article

Many students struggle to find interesting essay topics in the field of economics that can captivate their readers.

Without engaging essay topics, students may lose motivation and fail to develop a deep understanding of the subject matter. They may also struggle to communicate the significance of economics in our everyday lives.

Fret not! We have compiled a list of compelling economics essay topics that will provide you with a starting point for your essay.

Let's dive into our list of thought-provoking essay topics that will inspire your writing.

On This Page On This Page -->

Economics Essay Topics For Students

Explore a diverse range of economics essay topics that will provide students with a deeper understanding of key economic concepts.

Economics Essay Topics High School

• The role of consumer choice in shaping market demand and supply.
• Analyzing the impact of international trade on the domestic economy.
• The relationship between economic growth and standard of living.
• Exploring the causes and consequences of inflation on the economy.
• The impact of government spending and taxation on the overall economy.
• Evaluating the benefits and costs of different types of economic systems.
• The role of monetary policy in controlling inflation and promoting economic stability.
• Analyzing the impact of income inequality on social and economic well-being.
• The economic implications of technological advancements, such as automation and artificial intelligence.
• Understanding the role of the Federal Reserve and its influence on the economy in the United States.

Economics Essay Topics Grade 10

• Understanding the concept of scarcity and its impact on economic decision-making.
• Exploring the role of supply and demand in determining market prices and quantities.
• The benefits and drawbacks of globalization on local economies and workers.
• Analyzing the economic impact of natural disasters and strategies for disaster recovery.
• The role of entrepreneurship in driving economic growth and innovation.
• Examining the influence of advertising and marketing on consumer behavior.
• The economic consequences of unemployment and strategies for reducing it.
• The impact of government regulations on businesses and market competition.
• Analyzing the relationship between economic development and environmental sustainability.
• Understanding the basics of personal finance, including budgeting, saving, and investing.

Economics Essay Topics Grade 11

• Understanding the concept of supply and demand and its influence on market prices.
• Exploring the role of entrepreneurship in economic development and job creation.
• Analyzing the impact of government taxation on consumer behavior and business decisions.
• The relationship between economic indicators (GDP, inflation, unemployment) and overall economic health.
• The pros and cons of different economic systems (capitalism, socialism, mixed economy).
• Evaluating the role of banks and financial institutions in promoting economic growth.
• Examining the causes and consequences of income inequality in society.
• The role of education and human capital in fostering economic development.
• Analyzing the economic implications of population growth and migration.
• The impact of technological advancements on the labor market and job opportunities.

Economics Essay Topics Grade 12

• The impact of globalization on national economies and local industries.
• Analyzing the role of government intervention in addressing market failures.
• The economic implications of climate change and sustainable development.
• Exploring the relationship between economic growth and income inequality.
• The effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and unemployment.
• Examining the causes and consequences of financial crises in different economies.
• The role of technology and innovation in shaping economic growth and productivity.
• Analyzing the economic challenges and opportunities in an aging population.
• The impact of international trade agreements on domestic industries and employment.
• Evaluating the role of fiscal policy in stimulating economic recovery and growth.

Economics Essay Topics for College Students

• The impact of globalization on income inequality.
• Analyzing the economic consequences of automation and artificial intelligence.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of fiscal policy in stabilizing the economy.
• The economics of healthcare systems and the challenges of healthcare financing.
• Understanding the economics of climate change and the costs of mitigation strategies.
• Exploring the economic implications of income inequality and its effects on social well-being.
• The economics of international trade and its impact on domestic industries and employment.

Economics Essay Topics for University Students

• Analyzing the economic impact of government debt and fiscal deficits.
• The role of central banks in monetary policy and financial stability.
• Understanding the economics of poverty and strategies for poverty alleviation.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool.
• The economics of natural resource depletion and sustainable resource management.
• Analyzing the economic implications of demographic changes, such as population aging.
• Exploring the economics of housing markets and the challenges of affordable housing.
• The role of behavioral economics in understanding consumer behavior and decision-making.
• Understanding the economic consequences of income mobility and intergenerational economic disparities.
• Analyzing the economic impact of technological advancements, such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

Economics Essay Topics for Different Categories 

Explore a wide range of economics essay topics tailored for various categories! 

Microeconomics Essay Topics

• The concept of elasticity and its significance in understanding consumer behavior.
• Analyzing the role of competition in shaping market outcomes and efficiency.
• The economic implications of government intervention in regulating monopolies.
• Exploring the factors influencing the pricing decisions of firms in different industries.
• The impact of income distribution on consumer demand and welfare.
• Examining the economic effects of minimum wage policies on employment and income.
• The role of behavioral economics in explaining irrational consumer choices.
• Analyzing the efficiency of market structures, such as perfect competition and monopolistic competition.
• The economic implications of information asymmetry in markets.
• Understanding the concept of opportunity cost and its significance in decision-making.

Macroeconomics Essay Topics

• Analyzing the determinants of economic growth in a country or region.
• The role of fiscal policy in managing aggregate demand and stabilizing the economy.
• Examining the impact of international trade on the balance of payments and exchange rates.
• The economic consequences of government budget deficits and public debt.
• Analyzing the relationship between inflation and unemployment (Phillips curve).
• Understanding the role of central banks in controlling money supply and interest rates.
• Exploring the causes and consequences of business cycles in the economy.
• The impact of demographic changes on long-term economic growth and sustainability.
• Analyzing the effectiveness of monetary policy in managing inflation and promoting economic stability.
• The role of international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank) in global economic governance.

Managerial Economics Essay Topics

• Evaluating the cost-benefit analysis of business decisions in different industries.
• The role of pricing strategies in maximizing firm profits and market competitiveness.
• Analyzing the economic implications of mergers and acquisitions in the business world.
• Understanding the concept of economies of scale and its impact on production costs.
• Exploring the role of market research in informing business decision-making.
• The economic consequences of outsourcing and offshoring in multinational corporations.
• Examining the relationship between advertising and consumer behavior.
• Analyzing the effects of government regulations on business operations and profitability.
• The impact of technological advancements on production efficiency and innovation.
• Understanding the concept of risk management and its application in business decision-making.

Consumerism Essay Topics

• The economics of consumer behavior and decision-making, including factors that influence choices.
• Analyzing the impact of advertising and marketing on consumer behavior and preferences.
• Understanding the economics of consumer credit and the consequences of debt.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of consumer protection laws and their impact on market outcomes.
• The role of e-commerce and technology in changing consumer behavior and market competition.
• Analyzing the impact of product differentiation on consumer choice and market competition.
• Understanding the economics of brand loyalty and its impact on market outcomes.
• Examining the relationship between income and consumption patterns in different socioeconomic groups.
• Evaluating the role of social media in influencing consumer behavior and preferences.
• The impact of globalization on consumerism and consumer culture in different parts of the world.

Economic History Essay Topics

• The impact of the Industrial Revolution on economic and social changes in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Analyzing the causes and consequences of the Great Depression and its impact on global economies.
• Understanding the economic consequences of World War I and World War II.
• Examining the economic policies and reforms during the post-war era and their impact on economic growth.
• The role of Colonization and Imperialism in shaping global economic systems.
• Analyzing the economic impact of the Renaissance and the emergence of mercantilism.
• Understanding the economic transformations during the Agricultural Revolution.
• Evaluating the economic consequences of the Gold Standard and its eventual abandonment.
• The impact of globalization on economic systems throughout history.
• Analyzing the economic implications of major technological advancements throughout history.

Socio-Economics Essay Topics

• Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and access to education.
• Analyzing the impact of income inequality on social mobility and intergenerational economic disparities.
• The Role of Gender and racial inequalities in shaping socioeconomic outcomes.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of social welfare programs in reducing poverty and inequality.
• Understanding the economics of discrimination and its consequences on labor market outcomes.
• Analyzing the socioeconomic implications of urbanization and rural-urban migration.
• The role of social capital in promoting economic development and community well-being.
• Examining the impact of globalization on social and cultural dynamics.
• Understanding the relationship between healthcare access, socioeconomic factors, and health outcomes.
• Analyzing the economics of crime and its impact on socioeconomic conditions.

Health Economics Essay Topics

• The role of healthcare financing systems in ensuring access to quality healthcare.
• Analyzing the impact of health insurance coverage on healthcare utilization and outcomes.
• Understanding the economics of healthcare delivery systems, such as public vs. private healthcare.
• Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions and technologies.
• Analyzing the economic implications of population aging on healthcare systems.
• The role of pharmaceutical pricing and its impact on affordability and access to medications.
• Examining the economics of healthcare disparities and the factors contributing to inequities.
• Understanding the economics of preventive healthcare and its impact on long-term costs.
• The role of health economics in health policy decision-making and resource allocation.
• Analyzing the impact of healthcare reforms on healthcare access, quality, and costs.

International Economics Essay Topics

• Analyzing the impact of trade liberalization on developing economies.
• Understanding the economics of multinational corporations and their role in global trade.
• Examining the economic implications of regional economic integration, such as the European Union.
• The role of foreign direct investment in promoting economic growth and development.
• Evaluating the impact of protectionist trade policies on domestic industries and global trade.
• Analyzing the economic consequences of currency exchange rate fluctuations.
• Understanding the economics of international aid and its impact on recipient countries.
• The role of international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and IMF, in global economic governance.
• Analyzing the economic impact of global supply chains and outsourcing.
• Understanding the economic challenges and opportunities of economic sanctions on countries.

Behavioral Economics Essay Topics

• Exploring the role of cognitive biases in decision-making and their impact on economic outcomes.
• Understanding the economics of consumer behavior and the influence of psychological factors.
• Analyzing the impact of nudges and behavioral interventions on individual choices and societal outcomes.
• The role of social norms and social preferences in shaping economic behavior.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of behavioral interventions in promoting sustainable behaviors.
• Examining the economics of addiction and the impact of behavioral factors on substance abuse.
• Understanding the role of emotions and affective factors in economic decision-making.
• Analyzing the impact of framing and context effects on economic choices.
• The role of overconfidence and self-control in financial decision-making.
• Understanding the economics of charitable giving and pro-social behavior.

Environmental Economics Essay Topics

• Analyzing the economic implications of climate change and the costs of mitigation strategies.
• Understanding the economics of renewable energy adoption and its impact on economic growth.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of economic instruments, such as carbon pricing, in reducing emissions.
• The role of ecosystem services in economic decision-making and sustainable development.
• Analyzing the economics of natural resource depletion and strategies for resource management.
• Examining the economic consequences of pollution and the costs of environmental degradation.
• Understanding the economics of biodiversity conservation and the value of ecosystem preservation.
• The role of market-based mechanisms in promoting environmental sustainability.
• Analyzing the economic impact of environmental regulations on industries and employment.
• Understanding the economics of sustainable agriculture and the costs and benefits of organic farming.

Agricultural Economics Essay Topics

• Analyzing the impact of government agricultural subsidies on farm profitability and food prices.
• Understanding the economics of food security and the challenges of feeding a growing global population.
• Evaluating the role of agricultural trade policies in promoting or hindering international agricultural markets.
• The impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and adaptive strategies for farmers.
• Analyzing the economics of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their implications for agriculture.
• Understanding the economic consequences of land tenure systems and their impact on agricultural development.
• Examining the role of agricultural cooperatives in improving market access for small-scale farmers.
• The economics of agricultural risk management and the role of insurance in mitigating crop losses.
• Analyzing the economics of sustainable agriculture and the transition to more environmentally friendly practices.
• Understanding the economics of agricultural value chains and the role of intermediaries in market transactions.

Financial Economics Essay Topics

• Exploring the impact of financial innovations, such as cryptocurrencies, on traditional financial systems.
• Understanding the role of central banks in regulating monetary policy and ensuring financial stability.
• Analyzing the economics of stock market bubbles and their implications for investors and the economy.
• Evaluating the impact of financial globalization on emerging markets and their vulnerability to financial crises.
• The role of behavioral factors in financial decision-making and their impact on asset prices.
• Examining the economics of banking regulation and its effectiveness in preventing financial crises.
• Understanding the economic consequences of income inequality on financial markets and economic growth.
• Analyzing the role of financial institutions in financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• The impact of technological advancements, such as fintech and blockchain, on the financial sector.
• Understanding the economics of financial derivatives and their role in managing risk in financial markets.

Tips to Select an Economics Essay Topic

When it comes to selecting an essay topic, the right choice can make a significant difference in the quality of your essay.

To help you navigate the process, here are some useful tips to consider when choosing an economics essay topic.

• Identify your interests: Choose a topic that aligns with your personal interests within the field of economics. It will make the research and writing process more enjoyable and engaging.
• Consider current events: Look for economic issues or trends that are currently relevant and have an impact on society. This will add relevance and significance to your essay.
• Narrow down your focus: Narrow down your topic to a specific aspect or subfield that you find intriguing. It will allow you to delve deeper and provide a more focused analysis.
• Brainstorm unique angles: Try to approach your topic from a unique angle or perspective. Look for gaps in the existing literature or unconventional viewpoints that can make your essay stand out.
• Consider the scope and feasibility: Consider the length and requirements of your essay. Choose a topic that is manageable within the given constraints and time frame.

In conclusion, selecting a compelling economics essay topic is the first step towards crafting an outstanding piece of academic writing. 

However, if you're feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time, CollegeEssay.org is here to help. Our economics essay writing service offers expert assistance from experienced writers who have a deep understanding of the subject matter. 

Don't let the challenges of essay writing hold you back. Take advantage of our college essay writing service and relieve yourself of the stress.

 Try our essay writer AI today to learn more about our services and how we can support you in achieving your academic goals.

Barbara P (Literature)

Barbara is a highly educated and qualified author with a Ph.D. in public health from an Ivy League university. She has spent a significant amount of time working in the medical field, conducting a thorough study on a variety of health issues. Her work has been published in several major publications.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Legal & Policies

• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Terms of Use
• Refunds & Cancellations
• Our Writers
• Success Stories
• Our Guarantees
• Affiliate Program
• Referral Program
• AI Essay Writer

Disclaimer: All client orders are completed by our team of highly qualified human writers. The essays and papers provided by us are not to be used for submission but rather as learning models only.

Home — Essay Samples — Economics — Economic Development — What is Economic Growth

What is Economic Growth

• Categories: Economic Development Economic Growth

About this sample

Words: 593 |

Published: Dec 18, 2018

Words: 593 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited:

• Barry, S. (2010). “Do No Harm”: In Defense of John Q. Journal of Medical Humanities, 31(4), 345–358.
• Breen, J. (2015). John Q: A Question of Ethics. Journal of Religion and Film, 19(1), 1–19.
• Clouser, K. D. (2005). John Q and the Healthcare System: A Philosophical Analysis. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 26(3), 203–216.
• Codey, R. (2002, February 21). Hollywood and Heart Transplants. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/21/opinion/hollywood-and-heart-transplants.html
• Delgado, R. (2002, March 22). John Q. Wall Street Journal.
• Filkins, L. (2002, March 10). Father Takes Hostages to Get Son’s Heart Transplant. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/10/movies/father-takes-hostages-to-get-son-s-heart-transplant.html
• John Q. (2002). [Motion Picture]. United States: New Line Cinema.
• John Q. (2018). In IMDb.
• McNamara, M. (2002, February 15). A Life-and-Death Crisis Gets Hollywood Treatment in ‘John Q.’ Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-15-et-mcnamara15-story.html
• Pekmezovic, A. (2015). Movie John Q and the Socioeconomic Environment of Health Care in the United States. Serbian Journal of Management, 10(2), 249–259.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: Economics

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 1179 words

1 pages / 581 words

5 pages / 2197 words

3 pages / 1304 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Spier, F. (2015). Big history and the future of humanity. Somerset, UK: Wiley.Takagi, E., & Saito, Y. (2015). Older parents’ loneliness and family relationships in Japan. Ageing International, 40(4), 353-375. [...]

In our world, the government will often want people to see the good things in their country instead of the details including poverty, racial discrimination, social and economic issues, and so much more. During the Great [...]

In discussing the role of entrepreneurship in economic development, this essay essay recognizes that entrepreneurs play an essential role in the progress of a country. Their skills, talent, and hard work are [...]

Entrepreneurs are someone that founds and venture a small business while acknowledging the risks and rewards of it rather than working as an employee. They are commonly seen as an innovator, a source of fresh ideas, goods and [...]

Entrepreneurship plays an influential part in the economic development and way of life of the country. As a startup founder or small business owner, you may think that you are simply working hard to build your own business and [...]

Morocco have the largest middle classes in Africa, while Liberia and Burundi have the smallest middle classes. The rise of the middle class is being fueled by a combination of increased investment in the services sector, the [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Some People Say That Economic Growth Is The Only Way To End Hunger And Poverty - IELTS Writing Task 2

Updated On Aug 14, 2024

Share on Whatsapp

Share on Email

Share on Linkedin

Get access to IELTS Writing Task 2 bands 8 and 9 sample answers of ‘Some People Say That Economic Growth Is The Only Way To End Hunger And Poverty’ here!

Table of Contents

Sample essay, band 9 sample essay.

Limited-Time Offer : Access a FREE 10-Day IELTS Study Plan!

Given below is a real IELTS Writing Part 2 Essay question. We have provided sample essays as well as an essay outline so that you can practice IELTS Writing Task 2 on your own!

Not sure how to approach IELTS Essay questions? Take a look at IELTS Writing Task 2 Preparation Tips!

Learn how to write the perfect Essay introduction with the guide below!

Discussion Essay

Introduction

• Refer to the first view
• Refer to the second view
• Clearly state your inclination (as is asked in the question)
• Paragraph 1- First viewpoint. (Only the growth of the economies of the developing countries will provide the poor with the wealth to afford the basic necessities of life. The profits made by corporations who are responsible for this economic growth will trickle down in the form of financial benefits to be enjoyed by the starving and needy.)
• Paragraph 2- Second viewpoint. (There are countless examples to support the opposing view that economic growth results in environmental destruction. Firstly, this is true for developing countries, where lowland rainforests have been cleared and unsustainable agricultural practices introduced to produce cash crops, often for export.)(The continued use of fossil fuels, which provide the energy for growing industrialization, causes global warming. This leads to a rise in sea levels, which will eventually make tens of millions of poor people in Bangladesh homeless.)

Give your opinion in the conclusion. (The economic growth which is not sustainable, must be stopped. If it is based on generating profits rather than meeting human needs, such growth will only create more poverty and lead to more hunger in the world by destroying natural resources.)

It is true that some people contend that economic growth is the only solution to the global problems of hunger and poverty. Others, however, argue for an end to economic growth to conserve our environment. I agree completely with this second view.

Those who see economic growth alone as the sole cure for the tragedy of world hunger and poverty propose one major argument. Only the growth of the economies of developing countries will provide the poor with the wealth to afford the basic necessities of life . The profits made by corporations that are responsible for this economic growth will trickle down in the form of financial benefits to be enjoyed by the starving and needy. This view has justified the age of imperialism and the destruction of the livelihood of millions in the name of progress.

On the other hand, there are countless examples to support the opposing view that economic growth results in environmental destruction. Firstly, this is true for developing countries, where lowland rainforests have been cleared and unsustainable agricultural practices introduced to produce cash crops , often for export. Secondly, it is also true for developed economies. For example, the continued use of fossil fuels, which provide the energy for growing industrialization, causes global warming. This leads to a rise in sea levels, which will eventually make tens of millions of poor people in Bangladesh homeless.

In conclusion, economic growth which is not sustainable must be stopped. If it is not based on meeting human needs rather than generating profits, such growth will only create more poverty and lead to more hunger in the world by destroying natural resources.

• To contend [verb] :

Meaning : to say that something is true (especially in an argument) Example : Although Brazil did not win the World Cup, my friend contends that they were the best team.

• Tragedy [noun] :

Meaning : a very sad event or situation Example : It is a tragedy that many children die of starvation in the world today.

• The basic necessities of life [expression] :

Meaning : the things which you must have in order to live and survive Example : Many people cannot afford the basic necessities of life, such as food and clothing.

• To trickle down [phrasal verb] :

Meaning : to spread money from rich people to poor people, through the economic system of a country Example : Although the corporation made a lot of money last year, none of this trickled down to its employees.

• Livelihood [noun] :

Meaning : means of earning money in order to live Example : Communities on the island depend on fishing for their livelihood.

• In the name of [expression] :

Meaning : used to give a reason for doing something, often when what you are doing is wrong Example : Many wars have been fought in the name of religion.

• Countless [adjective] :

Meaning : very many (too many to be counted) Example : I’ve told John countless times, but he still doesn’t remember my phone number.

• Unsustainable [adjective] :

Meaning : that cannot be continued at the same rate or level Example : The use of oil at the present rate is unsustainable – there are reserves only for 20 or 30 more years.

• Cash crops [noun] :

Meaning : crops grown for selling, not for use by the person who grows them Example : The best land in the country is using for growing cash crops like pineapples for export to Europe.

• To generate [verb] :

Meaning : to produce or create something Example : In order to generate more electricity, the government is providing funding for wind farms.

Economic growth, as some may propose, is the only alternative to eradicate destitution and the dearth of basic necessities amongst the underprivileged strata of our society. While some are proponents of the opposite view and advocate putting an end to economic growth in the wake of rising environmental issues, I am in alignment with the latter school of notion.

The major reason why some people steadfast the essence of economic growth vigorously is owing to their inclination towards considering money as the only way to lacerate the poverty line. Economic progress could increase the status quo as it is a quintessential pillar when it comes to the development stature of a country. The GDP, NNP, NI (National income), etc. are some of the deciding factors as to how a country performs and, thereby fortifying the economic front would conspicuously mean the improvisation and revamping the ailing lifestyle of the people below the poverty and hunger threshold.

In contrast, the argument that supports putting an end to the ideology of rigorous economic growth is propelled by several instances, which, more often than not, have been a deterrent to an overall dip in development and especially, sustainable development. The overhaul of natural resources is a principal detrimental factor that anchors the fact that under the pretext of the growth model, our natural economies have been overused and rather hackneyed in the spur of capital investment. It has not only put the flora and fauna to the endangered quotations but has also put the entire Earth on the verge of dereliction. Deforestation, animal poaching, industrialization, urbanization and all other underlying dynamics have debilitated the health of our planet and obviously, its constituents. Eutrophication, due to the increase in strengthening agricultural practices and faster yielding, has been exacerbated in the past few years. The paucity of water level and the retention of groundwater have been diminished mainly due to soil erosion, again a result of cutting trees and destructing vegetation and frondescence.

Therefore, it could be said in conclusion that reckless chasing of the desired capital and economic success has deterred and aberrated the all-around status of our nature at large. If that continues to prance likewise, we’ll indeed have to invest even more capital to restore the profligate spending of our natural assets.

More Writing Task 2 Essay Topics

• Scientific Research Should Be Carried Out and Controlled by the Government
• The Tradition of Families Getting Together to Eat Meals is Disappearing
• Is Freedom of Speech Necessary In a Free Society
• In Today’s World of Advanced Science and Technology
• Some People Think That Young People Should Be Required to Do Unpaid Work Helping People in The Community

Also check:

• IELTS Essay Topics
• Tips to write introduction in IELTS Writing Task 2
• Tips to write great writing essay
• IELTS Sample essays
• IELTS Writing task 2 Tips
• Tips to Improve IELTS Writing Skills
• How to get band 8 in IELTS Writing Task 2

Practice IELTS Writing Task 2 based on Essay types

Start Preparing for IELTS: Get Your 10-Day Study Plan Today!

Nafia Zuhana is an experienced content writer and IELTS Trainer. Currently, she is guiding students who are appearing for IELTS General and Academic exams through ieltsmaterial.com. With an 8.5 score herself, she trains and provides test takers with strategies, tips, and nuances on how to crack the IELTS Exam. She holds a degree in Master of Arts – Creative Writing, Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has worked with The Hindu for over a year as an English language trainer.

Explore other Discussion Essays

Janice Thompson

Post your Comments

Recent articles.

Raajdeep Saha

Kasturika Samanta

Akanksha Tripathi

IELTSMaterial Master Program

1:1 Live Training with Band 9 Teachers

4.9 ( 3452 Reviews )

Our Offices

Gurgaon city scape, gurgaon bptp.

Step 1 of 3

Great going .

Get a free session from trainer

Have you taken test before?

Please select any option

Email test -->

Please enter Email ID

Mobile Band 9 trainer -->

Please enter phone number

Application

Please select any one

Already Registered?

Select a date

Please select a date

Select a time (IST Time Zone)

Please select a time

Mark Your Calendar: Free Session with Expert on

Which exam are you preparing?

Great Going!

Essay on Economic Growth: Top 13 Essays | Economics

Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Economic Growth’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Economic Growth’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Economic Growth

Essay Contents:

• The New (Endogenous) Economic Growth Theory

Essay # 1. Introduction to Economic Growth:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Various theories, viewpoints and models have been presented from time to time to account for the sources of economic growth and the determinants of economic development. To most peo­ple, a theory is a contention that is impractical and has no factual support.

For the economist, however, a theory is a systematic explanation of interrelationships among economic variables and its purpose is to explain causal relationships among these variables. Usually a theory is used not only to understand the world better but also to provide a basis for policy. This essay discusses a few of the major theories of economic development, from which emerged alterna­tive approaches to economic development.

The earliest students of development economics were the mercantilists. Mercantilists were a group of traders. They believed that exports were always good for a country because exports implied inflow of precious metals (such as gold and silver). By contrast, imports were harmful for a country because imports implied outflow of precious metals. So, in their view, growth and development of a nation depended on its accumulation of precious metals.

Essay # 2. Adam Smith and Economic Growth :

The mercantilist view was challenged by Adam Smith (1723-1790), the Father of Economics, in 1776. Smith, in his Wealth of Nations, pointed out that the mercantilist view contained a major fallacy. International trade is just like a two-person zero-sum game in which one coun­try’s gains is the other country’s loss. So two trading nations cannot have trade surplus (or favourable balance of trade) at the same time. In the late 18th century Smith argued that the true wealth of a nation is not its accumulated gold and silver hut its labour power— the human factor of production.

And the wealth of nation depended on two main factors:

(i) The productivity of labour, and

(ii) The proportion of productive labour in the total labour force (i.e., the labour force participation rate).

Smith believed that division of labour, specialisation, and exchange were the true springs of economic growth.

Smith argued that in a market-based (competitive) economy, with no collusion, cartel or monopoly, each individual, by acting in his (her) own interest, promoted the public interest. A producer who charges more than others will not find buyers, a worker who asks more than the going wages will not get job, and an employer who pays less than the market wage (i.e., the wages competitors pay) will not find anyone to work.

It was as if an invisible hand were behind the self-interest of capitalists, merchants, landlords and workers, directing their actions toward maximum economic growth. So Smith advocated a laissez-faire (non-interference of govern­ment in economic matters) and free trade policy as two growth-promoting measures.

Essay # 3. The Classical Theory of Economic Stagnation :

The classical theory, based on the work of David Ricardo (1772-1823), had a pessimistic view about the possibility of sustained economic growth. For Ricardo, who assumed little continu­ing technical progress, growth was limited by scarcity of land. A major tenet of Ricardo was the law of diminishing returns.

For him, diminishing returns due to population growth and a fixed supply of land threatened economic growth. Since Ricardo believed that technical change or improved production techniques could only temporarily avert the operation of the law of di­minishing returns, increasing capital was seen as the only way to offset this long-run threat.

However, any fall in the rate of capital accumulation would lead to eventual stagnation. Ricardian stagnation might result in a Marxian scenario, in which wages and investment would be maintained only if property were confiscated by society and payments to private capitalists and landlords stopped.

Essay # 4. Marx’s Theory of Economic Development :

Marx (1818-83) predicted that the capitalist system would in the initial stage grow due to increased profit (surplus value which was the result of exploitation of labour) and would pro­vide funds for accumulation. But since wages were pegged at the subsistence level, due to the existence of a huge reserve army of unemployed, the capitalists would suffer from a realisation crisis. They would not be able to realise the profits embodied in already produced goods. And, according to Marx, the under consumption of the masses is the root cause of all crises.

Marx, in fact, made certain predictions about the growth, maturity and stagnation of capital­ism. He predicted that the capitalist system would ultimately collapse for want of markets and would yield place to socialism.

Unfortunately, history has not obliged Marx. The year 1989 saw the collapse of socialism (especially in erstwhile USSR and its satellite countries) and with it the abandonment of the centralised planning system and the emergence of newborn post-socialist countries.

All these countries have embraced the market system which is now thought to be a more efficient mecha­nism for solving society’s economic problems, promoting faster economic growth and improv­ing the living standards of the people.

Essay # 5. Rostow’s Stages of Economic Grow th:

By criticizing Marx’s stages of growth, viz, feudalism, capitalism and socialism, Walter W. Rostow sets forth a new historical synthesis about the beginnings of modern economic growth on six continents.

His economic stages are:

(i) The traditional society,

(ii) The preconditions for takeoff,

(iii) The takeoff,

(iv) The drive to maturity, and

(v) The age of high mass consumption.

The most important stage is the third one, i.e., the takeoff stage. In order to reach that stage a country must save and invest at least 10 -12% of its national income. Many Western countries had already reached the stage when Rostow’s book appeared. Many underdeveloped countries reached the stage later (mainly under the influence of planning).

Essay # 6. Vicious Circle Theory of Economic Growth :

The vicious circle theory presented by Ragnar Nurkse in his book- The Problems of Capital Formation in Underdeveloped Countries, 1953) indicates that poverty perpetuates itself in mutually reinforcing vicious circles on both the supply and demand sides. In fact, low per capita income is both the cause and the effect of poverty.

A. Supply Side :

At low levels of income, people cannot save much. Shortage of capital leads to low productiv­ity of labour, which perpetuates low levels of income. Thus the circle is complete, as shown in Fig. 1. A country is poor because it was previously so poor that it could not save and invest. Or, as Jeffrey Sachs (2005) explains the poverty trap: ‘Poverty itself is the cause of economic stagnation.’

In short, various obstacles to development are self-enforcing. Low levels of income prevent saving, retard capital growth, hinder productivity growth and keep income low. Successful development may require taking steps to break the chain at various points. By contrast, as countries get richer they save more, creating a virtuous circle in which high sayings rates lead to faster growth. A country is rich because it was rich in the past. Or a rich country is likely to become richer in the future.

B. Demand Side:

In addition, due to the narrow size of the domestic market for light consumer goods (such as shoes, textiles, radio, etc.) there is hardly any incentives for potential entrepreneurs to investment. Lack of invest means low factor productivity and continued low income. A country is poor because it was so poor in the past that it could not provide the market to spur investment.

Essay # 7. Balanced Vs. Unbalanced Economic Growth :

A major debate in the areas of development economics from the 1940s through the 1960s concerned balanced growth versus unbalanced growth. The term balanced growth has been used in different senses. The meaning of the term may vary from the absurd requirement that all sectors grow at the same rate to the more sensible plan that a minimum attention has to be given to all major sectors—industry, agriculture, and services.

Balanced Growth :

The main advocate of the doctrine of balanced growth was Nurkse. To him, balanced growth means the synchronized application of capital to a wide range of different industries. Nurkse considers this strategy as the only escape route from the vicious circle of poverty (under­development).

Big Push Thesis :

The advocates of the Nurkseian doctrine support the big push thesis, arguing that a strategy of gradualism is bound to fail. A substantial effort is needed to overcome the inertia inherent in a stagnant economy. According to Paul N. Rosenstein-Rodan (1943), the factors that contribute to economic growth—such as demand and investment in infrastructure—do not increase smoothly but are subject to sizable jumps or indivisibilities. These indivisibilies result from flows created in the investment market by external economies (positive externalities), that is, cost advantages en­joyed by one firm due to output expansion by another firm.

These benefits spillover to society as a whole, or to some members of it, rather than to the investor concerned. This means that the social profitability of this investment exceeds its private profitability. Furthermore, unless the government intervenes, total private investment will be grossly inadequate compared to soci­ety’s needs.

Indivisibility in Infrastructure :

For Rosenstein-Rodan, a major indivisibility is in infrastructure, such as power, transport and communications. This basic social capital reduces costs to other industries.

Indivisibility in Demand :

The indivisibility arises from the interdependence of investment decisions; that is, a prospec­tive investor is uncertain whether the output from his investment projects will find a market. This problem can be solved if a number of industries are set up so that new producers become each other’s customers and create additional markets through increased incomes. Complemen­tary demand reduces the risk of not finding a market. Reducing interdependent risks increases the incentive to invest.

Hirschman’s Strategy of Unbalanced Growth:

A. O. Hirschman develops (1958) the idea of unbalanced investment to complement existing imbalances. In his view, deliberately unbalancing the economy, in line with a predesigned strategy, is the best path for economic growth. He argues that the big push theory cannot be applied to less developed countries (LDCs) because they do not have the skills needed to launch such a massive effort. The scarcest resource in LDCs is the decision-making input, i.e., entrepreneurship, not capital. Economic development is held in check not by shortage of savings, but by that of risk-takers and decision-makers.

In Hischman’s view, low-income countries need a development strategy that spurs invest­ment decisions. He suggests that since physical resources and managerial skills and abilities are scarce in LDCs, a big push is sensible only in strategically selected industries within the economy. Growth is then likely to spread from one sector to another (similar to Rostow’s concept of leading and lagging sectors).

However, it is not in the Tightness of things to leave investment decisions solely to indi­vidual entrepreneurs in the market. The reason is that the profitability of different investment projects may depend on the order in which they are undertaken. For example, the return from a car factory may be 12%, and that from a steel plant 10%. However, if the car factory is set up first, its return is likely to be low due to shortage of steel.

However, if the steel plant is set up, the returns to the car factory may increase in the next period from 12 to 15%. This means that society would be better off investing in the steel plant first and the car factory next, rather than making independent decisions based on the market. So planners and policy-makers need to consider the interdependence of one investment project with another so that they maximise overall social profitability.

They need to make that investment which promotes the maximum investment. Investment should be concentrated in those industries which have the strongest linkages—both backward (to enterprises that sell inputs to the industry) and forward (to units that buy output from the industry).

The steel industry, for instance, may be accorded the maxi­mum priority by the planners because it has backward linkages with coal and iron ore indus­tries, and forward linkages with car and engineering industries. So there is need for making public investment in steel industry which has a strong investment potential in the sense that it is likely to spur private investment. Similarly, public investment in power and transport will in­crease productivity and thus encourage investment in various other industries.

Critique of Unbalanced Growth :

One main drawback of unbalanced growth approach is that it fails to stress the importance of agricultural investments. According to Hirschman, agriculture does not stimulate linkage for­mation so directly as other industries.

However, empirical studies indicate that agriculture has substantial linkages to other sectors. Moreover, as Johnston and Mellor have pointed out, agri­cultural growth makes vital contributions to the non-agricultural sector through increased food supplies, added foreign exchange, labour supply, capital transfer and wider markets.

The truth is that there is no conflict between these two strategies of development. An opti­mum strategy must combine some elements of balance as well as imbalance. As E. Wayne Nafziger has opined- ‘What constitutes the proper investment balance among sectors requires careful analysis. In some instances, imbalances may be essential for compensating for existing imbalances. By contrast, Hirschman’s unbalanced growth should have some kind of balance as an ultimate aim.’

Essay # 8. Underdevelopment as Coordination Failure :

To some modern economists underdevelopment is result of coordination failure. This is why the theory of big push or critical minimum effort or balanced growth has been put forward. The coordination failure problem leads to multiple equilibria, as has been suggested by M. P. Todaro.

The basic point is that benefits an economic agent receives from taking an action depends positively on how many other agents are expected to take the same action or the extent of these actions. For example, price a farmer can expect to receive for his output depends on the number of intermediaries who are active in channel of distribution which, in turn, depends on number of other farmers who specialise in the same product.

Likewise, fertility decision need in effect to be coordinated across families. All are better if average fertility rate declines. But any one family may be worse off by being only one to have fewer children. The reason is that in rural areas children are a source of labour power for agricultural families. So if only one family adopts the small family norm it will have to hire workers from the external labour market by paying higher wages.

In Fig. 2 the S-shaped privately rational decision function YY first increase at a increasing rate and the at a decreasing rate.

This shape reflects typical nature of complementariness. For example, some economic agents may take complementary action such investing even if others in the economy do not, particu­larly when interactions are expected through foreigners, say, through exporting. If in this case one or a few agents take action, each agent may be isolated from others. So spillovers may be minimum.

Thus the curve YY does not rise quickly at first as more agents take the decision to invest. But after enough invest there may be a cumulative effect, in which most agents begin to provide external benefits to neighbouring agents and the curve rises at a much faster rate. Finally, after most potential investors have been seriously affected and most important gains have been realised the curve starts to rise at a decreasing rate.

In Fig. 2 function YY cuts the 45° line three times. Thus there is possibility of multiple equilibria. Of these D 1 and D 3 are stable equilibria. The reason is that if expectations were slightly changed to a little above or below these-levels economic agents (investors) would adjust their behaviour in such a way as to bring the economy back to equilibrium levels. In each case YY function cuts 45° line from above. This is the hallmark of a stable equilibrium.

The intermediate equilibrium at D 2 cuts YY function from below. So it is unstable. This is because if a few less entrepreneurs were expected to invest equilibrium would be D 1 and if a few more, equilibrium would shift to D 3 .

Therefore, D 2 may be treated as chance equilibrium, i.e., it could be an equilibrium only by chance. Thus in practice we can think of an unstable equilibrium such as a D 2 as ways of dividing ranges of expectations over which a higher or lower stable equilibrium will hold sway.

Thus there is need for coordinating investment decisions when the value (rate of relation) of one investment depends on the presence or the extent of other investments. All are better off with more investors or higher rate of investment.

But this cannot be achieved only through market system. So there is need for government intervention. It is possible to achieve the de­sired outcome only under the influence of certain types of government policies. Difficulties of investment coordination give rise to government-led strategies for industrialisation.

Technology Spillover :

The investment coordination perspective explains the nature and extent of problems posed when technology has spread effects, i.e., development of technology by one firm has favour­able effects on other firms, i.e., positive externality.

Now suppose we show average rate of investment expected of other key firms or in the economy as a whole on the horizontal axis or profitable rate of investment for a particular firm on the vertical axis, given what other firms are expected to invest on average. In this case points where the YY the curve crosses 45° line in Fig. 2 depict equilibrium investment rates.

Then due to direct relation between investment and growth, the economy may get struck in a low growth rate largely because its expected rate of investment is likely to be low. Changing expectations may not be sufficient if it is more profitable for a firm to wait for others to invest rather than to take the lead and become a ‘pioneer’ investor. In that case there is need for government policy in addition to a change of expectation of investors.

This is why attention to the presence of multiple equilibria is so important. Market forces can bring us to one of these equilibria but they are not sufficient to ensure that no equilibrium will be achieved and they offer no mechanism to move from a bad equilibrium to a good one.

In general when jointly profitable investment may not be made without coordination multi­ple equilibria may exist in which the same individuals with access to same resources and tech­nologies could find themselves in either a good or bad situation. For example, the extent of effort of each firm in a developing region puts to increase the rate of technological transfer depends on effort put by other firms.

No doubt bring in modern technology from abroad often has spillover effects for other firms. But the presence of multiple equilibria subject to making better technology available is a necessary but not a sufficient condition to achieve faster economic growth and consequent improvement in the living standards of the people.

Essay # 9. The Lewis Model of Economic Growth :

In the Lewis model, economic growth occurs due to an increase in the size of the industrial sector, which accumulates capital, relative to the subsistence agricultural sector, which does not accumulate any capital. The source of capital in the industrial sector is profits from the low wages paid in unlimited supply of surplus labour from traditional agriculture. An unlimited supply of labour available to the industrial sector facilitates capital accumulation and economic growth.

Urban industrialists increase their labour supply by attracting workers from agriculture who migrate to urban areas when wages there exceed rural wages. Lewis elaborates this point while explaining labour transfer from agricultural to industry in a newly industrializing country. Industrial expansion would come to a halt when labour shortages develop in rural areas.

The significance of the Lewis model is that growth takes place as a result of structural change. An economy consisting mainly of a subsistence agricultural sector (which does not save) is transformed into one predominantly in the modern capitalist sector (which alone saves). As the relative size of the capitalist sector grows, the ratio of profits and other surplus to na­tional income grows.

Essay # 10. The Fei-Ranis Modification of Lewis Model of Economic Growth :

In John Fei and Gustav Ranis, in their modification of the Lewis model, contend that the agri­cultural sector must grow, through technical progress, for output to grow as fast as population; technical change increases output per hectare to compensate for the growing pressure of labour on land, which is a fixed resource. As with the Lewis model, the advent of fully commercialized agriculture and industry ends industrial growth (or what Fei-Ranis calls the take-off into self-sustained growth).

Essay # 11. Baran’s Neo-Marxist Thesis :

Paul A. Baran incorporated Lenin’s concepts of imperialism and international class conflict into his theory of economic growth and stagnation. For Baran LDCs were unlikely to achieve growth and development because of Western economic and political domination, especially in the colonial period.

Capitalism arose not through the growth of small competitive firms at home but through the transfer from abroad of advanced monopolistic business. Baran felt that as capitalism took hold, the bourgeoisie (business and middle classes) in LDCs, lacking the strength to spearhead thorough institutional change for major capital accumulation, would have to seek allies among other classes.

From Marxian perspective Baran writes:

What is decisive is that economic development in underdeveloped countries is profoundly inimical to the dominant interests in the advanced capitalist countries. The backward world has always represented the indispensable hinterland of the highly developed capitalist West.

The only way out of the impasse may be worker and peasant revolution, expropriating land and capital, and establishing a new regime based on collective effort and the creed of the pre­dominance of interests of society over the interests of a selected few.

Essay # 12. Dependency Theory of Economic Growth :

According to A. G. Frank, a major dependency theorist, underdevelopment is not simply non-development, but is a unique type of socioeconomic structure that results from the depend­ency of the underdeveloped country on advanced capitalist countries.

This results from foreign capital removing a surplus from the dependent economy to the advanced country by structur­ing the underdeveloped economy in an ‘external orientation’ that includes the export of pri­mary products, the import of manufactures, and dependent industrialisation. As Frank states- ‘It is capitalism, world and national, which produced under development in the past and still generates underdevelopment in the present.’

Frank’s dependency approach maintains that countries become underdeveloped through integration into, not isolation from, the international capitalist system. However, despite some evidence supporting Frank, he does not give adequately demonstration that withdrawing from the capitalist system results in faster economic development.

Unequal Exchange :

According to dependency theorists, the same process of capitalism that brought development to the presently advanced capitalists countries resulted in the underdevelopment of the depend­ent periphery. The global system is such that the development of part of the system occurs at the expense of other parts. Underdevelopment of the periphery is the Siamese twin of develop­ment of the centre.

Centre-periphery trade is characterised by unequal exchange. This may refer to deteriora­tion in the peripheral country’s terms of trade. It may also refer to unequal bargaining power in investment, transfer of technology, taxation, and relations with multinational corporations. According to S. Amin, unequal exchange means the exchange of products whose production involves wage differentials greater than those of productivity.

The Neoclassical Counterrevolution :

The neoclassical counterrevolution to Marxian and dependency theory emphasised reliance on the market, private initiative, and deregulation in LDCs. Neoclassical growth theory empha­sised the importance of increased saving and capital formation for economic development and for empirical measures of sources of growth. The neoclassical model predicts that incomes per capita between rich and poor countries will converge. But empirical studies do not support this prediction.

This is why N. G. Mankiw and others propose an augmented Solow neoclassical model which includes human capital as an additional explanatory variable to physical capital and labour. The Washington institutions of the World Bank, IMF, and US Government have applied neoclassical analysis in their policy-based lending to LDCs.

Essay # 13. The New (Endogenous) Economic Growth Theory :

The new (endogenous) growth theory developed by Paul Romer arose from concerns that neo­classical economists neglected the explanations of technical change and accepted the unrealis­tic assumption of perfect competition. For Mankiw, Romer, and Weil, human capital and for Romer, endogenous (originating internally) technology, when added to physical capital and labour in neoclassical growth theory, are important factors contributing to economic growth.

One reason is that although there are diminishing returns to physical capital, there are constant returns to all (human and physical) capital. The new growth theory, however, does no better than an enhanced neoclassical model in measuring the sources of economic growth.

Related Articles:

• Essay on Trade and Economic Growth | International Economics
• Solow’s Neoclassical Growth Model | Economic Growth | Economics
• Essay on Human Capital | Economic Growth | Economics
• Difference between Economic Growth and Economic Development

Reference Library

Collections

• See what's new
• All Resources
• Student Resources
• Assessment Resources
• Teaching Resources
• CPD Courses
• Livestreams

Study notes, videos, interactive activities and more!

Economics news, insights and enrichment

Currated collections of free resources

Browse resources by topic

• All Economics Resources

Resource Selections

Currated lists of resources

Topic Videos

Trade and Economic Growth (Revision Essay Plan)

Last updated 3 Oct 2020

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share by Email

In this video we walk through a suggested plan for a 25 mark question: "Examine the importance of trade for economic growth in a developing country of your choice."

Examine the importance of trade for economic growth in a developing country of your choice.

KAA (1) Specialising and exporting coffee generates export revenues (US$s) – which then allows Ethiopia to use foreign currency to pay for essential imports such as capital goods including heavy machinery that might be needed to increase their productive potential and therefore drive growth. Trade at a mutually beneficial terms of trade can shift out a nation’s PPF.

Evaluation (1) However in reality, Ethiopian producers may have little control over the price at which they sell their coffee. There is a risk that global prices are volatile or indeed fall over the long-run in which case their export revenues will drop, and the Ethiopian government will then have fewer resources to fund basic public services and infrastructure investment. This would have a negative effect on potential growth.

KAA (2) Successful trade often leads to rising investment in export industries. If Ethiopia opens to trade, we expect to see an increase in FDI into Ethiopia in industries such as coffee processing, emerging tech, and light manufacturing such as textiles. Higher levels of FDI might lead to more jobs in the formal economy which in turn generates more tax revenue and can raise per capita incomes which lifts people of out extreme poverty and adds to household consumption. (Trade can lead to positive multiplier and accelerator effects, rising AD and LRAS).

Eval (2) However, there might be limits to investment (e.g. since Ethiopia is landlocked) and the country may become – over time - too reliant on inward FDI, rather than developing their own manufacturers. Tax revenues to the Ethiopian government might be limited by corporate tax avoidance by TNCs. This might hold back how much the government can spend on healthcare and education.

• Trade openness
• Trade liberalisation
• Economic Growth

You might also like

Mexico - economic growth and development.

Study Notes

UK Economy in 2015 - Exam Revision Webinar

The End of the Chinese Economic Miracle

9th March 2016

In Conversation: Robert Reich and Joseph Stiglitz

28th December 2017

EU Customs Union Membership (Revision Essay Plan)

Practice Exam Questions

UK Economy - Why low business investment matters

11th September 2022

In the News Teaching Activity: Economic Growth Revised Upwards (September 2023)

4th September 2023

Can Labour's Modern Supply-Side Economics Revive Britain's Economy?

16th August 2024

Our subjects

• › Criminology
• › Economics
• › Geography
• › Health & Social Care
• › Psychology
• › Sociology
• › Teaching & learning resources
• › Student revision workshops
• › Online student courses
• › CPD for teachers
• › Livestreams
• › Teaching jobs

Boston House, 214 High Street, Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, LS23 6AD Tel: 01937 848885

• › Contact us
• › Terms of use
• › Privacy & cookies

© 2002-2024 Tutor2u Limited. Company Reg no: 04489574. VAT reg no 816865400.

Essay on Economic Growth

Introduction.

Economic growth entails the process of increasing the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. The growth can be evaluated as an increase in the real gross national product (GNP) or Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over a certain period. When GDP increases, the value of services or goods produced, people can consume more. To increase services and goods, countries should increase their potential to produce. As such, broadly, economic growth entails analyzing the variables that result in a sustained increase in production capacity.

Notably, economic growth directly influences the quality of an individual’s living standards. Increasing the production capacity increases income; hence, consumers can purchase more services and goods. Subsequently, the increased incomes and production work together to increase productivity. This cycle continues while productivity in the production factors speedily increases real GDP. Consequently, job opportunities increase, and the government has more tax revenues for public services.

Subsequently, economic growth and increased production capacity result from capital accumulation, technological changes and increased education levels. If a nation puts its entire resources to generate more services and goods but no resources to accrue capital, the production capacity will remain the same. There is basically an interchange between current increased production and future economic growth. For a nation to attain more future consumption, it must reduce the production of services and goods. The forgone consumption now is the opportunity cost for a better economy.

Sources of Economic Growth

Capital accumulation.

Capital accumulation entails increasing capital resources like physical and human capital. Human capital involves the knowledge and skill that an individual possesses. It may come from work experience or education. Human capital increases significantly when more people learn and engage in productive work. Subsequently, physical capital may involve additions to buildings, machines or equipment. It results in more money per employee, leading to increased productivity. The buildup of physical capital is essential for economic growth and vital in all economic areas.

Technological Change

Technological changes entail innovating and looking for more effective and efficient production means. With new technologies, companies can produce more output at a reduced cost. These lower-cost systems enable companies to provide either greater quantity or lower prices. Technology entails the application of science, particularly for commercial and industrial purposes, to make innovations to the production methods, production machines and products to increase efficiency and production volume, all leading to profit increases and competition advantages (Çalışkan, 2015). Technology helps to facilitate various aspects of life in an economy. It directly improves the accuracy and speed of production and takes over different, more time-consuming and laborious duties. This enables people previously involved in these jobs to engage and invest in different economic sectors. Thus, technological changes contribute significantly to economic growth. Technology facilitates the production of a certain product with less input. Further, countries that efficiently adopt technology in all societal aspects create new employment areas, hence economic growth.

Another source of economic growth is education. Notably, education is the primary source of the rise in living standards (Apostu et al., 2022). This is because education increases the capacity to function and societal development. Further, the more skilled the labor force, the higher the production levels and the more technological advancements. In addition, higher education levels lead to increased wage levels hence high spending. This can involve increased demand which pushes the supply side hence more production in the market. Fostering education leads to a more knowledgeable and skilful population, which puts this acquired information and skills on the market. As such, education has a positive impact on general economic improvement.

Notably, universities play a significant role in promoting sustainable development through knowledge transmission and creating certain competencies in students (Apostu et al., 2022). For instance, universities initiate corporate social responsibility programs to safeguard the environment, develop local communities and fight corruption. In addition, highly educated people have skills and attitudes that positively influence the labor force. First, these people are highly predisposed to entrepreneurship. This has a direct positive influence on economic growth and welfare. Entrepreneurs, particularly educated entrepreneurs, introduce knowledge spilling indirectly or directly. This means they introduce improvement and innovative ideas to the current market practices. In this way, they indirectly stimulate change and a rise in general individual knowledge. Also, this is an effective way of inspiring rivalry and competition. By introducing improvements and new ideas to the markets, the upcoming investors force the current ones to introduce respective changes to maintain their current position in the market places. As a result, entrepreneurship contributes significantly to the economy.

Policies to Enhance the Sources of Economic Growth

The policy that can enhance education as a source of economic growth is a policy in education, such as an equality policy. This can contribute to the generation of human capital, which can counter the forces of falling returns in other production factors like physical capital necessary for economic growth. Besides its direct role as a production factor, human capital and education complement various factors like natural resources and physical capital that determine the level of technological innovations in a nation (Loayza & Soto, 2014). Hence, a policy toward enhancing education and human capital can lead to increased economic growth.

The other policy to promote technological change is in the area of financial depth. There should be the introduction of good financial systems to facilitate long-term growth. Financial systems influence economic growth and economic efficiency through various channels. Financial markets promote risk diversification by pooling, trading and hedging economic instruments (Loayza & Soto, 2014). They help to recognize profitable investment areas and rally savings for them. Further, financial systems can encourage adoption and change in technology by facilitating the capital needed for such activities. In addition, financial systems help monitor organization managers and impose corporate controls, reducing principal-agent issues resulting in inefficient investment. Consequently, financial developments result in more technology adoption and higher economic growth.

The next economic policy should be in the area of international trade openness to facilitate capital accumulation. Trade has a significant role in capital accumulation and economic growth (Loayza & Soto, 2014). First, trade results in higher specialization; hence, countries should exploit their comparative advantage area to advance in total factor productivity (TFP). Also, trade expands potential markets, enabling domestic companies to benefit from economies of scale and increasing their TFP. Further, trade diffuses enhanced managerial practices and technological innovations through better interactions with overseas markets and firms. Lastly, trade liberalizations decrease the incentives for companies to carry out unproductive activities, improving economic growth.

The Negative Impacts of Economic Growth

Although economic growth has indisputably been a positive influence, it still has adverse effects. Economic growth has various negative impacts, including environmental costs and income inequality. Notably, it can be possible to fix financial crises over time since their effect is not collective. However, damaging the environment can be irreversible once it reaches a tipping point. Higher outputs result in increased congestion and pollution, which can decrease the living standards, for instance, more breathing problems and wasting time in traffic jams because of pollution congestion, respectively (Kozluk & Zipperer, 2015). In addition, an increase in the consumption of non-renewable energy resources may put costs on incoming generations.

Subsequently, economic growth may cause income inequality. This happens because economic growth results in more benefits to the more affluent people, those owning assets and have well-paying jobs. With sufficient redistribution policies, wealthy people tend to gain more wealth at an increased rate compared to the economic growth rate since they can reinvest their bonuses.

One policy that would counter environmental costs caused by economic growth is the consumption of renewable sources to reduce pollution that contributes to the destruction of the ozone layer. Companies can achieve economic growth free from pollution by focusing on more environmentally friendly production methods (Kozluk & Zipperer, 2015). The other policy to counter income inequality is to increase the earned income tax. This can help to pull most families out of poverty and offer more economic support to poor people. Wealthy people will be required to pay more in federal taxes compared to low-income people hence an effective way of resolving the income inequality issue.

From this assignment, I have learnt that economic growth has many benefits. However, I have noticed that the impact of economic growth relies on various factors like the nature of growth, whether that growth is sustainable and whether it causes harm to the environment. Going forward, I will apply this knowledge by focusing on the aspects of economic growth that make it desirable, like advocating for environmental protection.

Apostu, S. A., Mukli, L., Panait, M., Gigauri, I., & Hysa, E. (2022). Economic Growth through the Lenses of Education, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Administrative Sciences, 12(3), 74.

Çalışkan, H. K. (2015). Technological change and economic growth. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 195, 649-654.

Kozluk, T., & Zipperer, V. (2015). Environmental policies and productivity growth: a critical review of empirical findings. OECD Journal: Economic Studies, 2014(1), 155-185.

Loayza, N., & Soto, R. (2014). The sources of economic growth: An overview. Series on Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies, no. 6.

Cite This Work

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

Related Essays

Transformational leadership is superior, streaming services using advertisements, healthy harvest implementation, contingency theory: strategic conflict management, ethics in business, environmental management system (ems), popular essay topics.

• American Dream
• Artificial Intelligence
• Black Lives Matter
• Bullying Essay
• Career Goals Essay
• Causes of the Civil War
• Child Abusing
• Civil Rights Movement
• Community Service
• Cultural Identity
• Cyber Bullying
• Death Penalty
• Depression Essay
• Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Speech
• Global Warming
• Gun Control
• Human Trafficking
• I Believe Essay
• Immigration
• Importance of Education
• Israel and Palestine Conflict
• Leadership Essay
• Legalizing Marijuanas
• Mental Health
• National Honor Society
• Police Brutality
• Pollution Essay
• Racism Essay
• Romeo and Juliet
• Same Sex Marriages
• Social Media
• The Great Gatsby
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Time Management
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Violent Video Games
• What Makes You Unique
• Why I Want to Be a Nurse
• Send us an e-mail

Essay on Economic Growth And Development

Students are often asked to write an essay on Economic Growth And Development in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Economic Growth And Development

What is economic growth.

Economic growth means that a country is making more goods and services than before. This is often measured by looking at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which adds up the value of everything produced in a country. When GDP goes up, it usually means more jobs and money for people.

What is Economic Development?

Economic development is different. It’s not just about making more things; it’s about improving people’s lives. This includes better education, healthcare, and housing. It also means having a cleaner environment and making sure that everyone has a chance to succeed.

Why Are They Important?

Growth and development are important because they can make people’s lives better. When an economy grows, there are usually more jobs, which means people can earn more money to buy what they need and want. Development makes sure that this money also leads to a better quality of life.

250 Words Essay on Economic Growth And Development

Understanding economic growth.

Economic growth means that a country is making more goods and services than before. Think of it like a lemonade stand. If you sell more lemonade this year than last year, your stand has grown. For a whole country, we measure this growth by looking at something called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP for short. This is like adding up all the money made from lemonade and everything else sold in the country.

The Meaning of Economic Development

Why growth and development matter.

When countries grow and develop, people usually have more money and better lives. Parents can buy more things for their kids, like books or toys. They can also take better care of their families, with better food and medicine. Countries can also take care of the planet by keeping the air and water clean.

Challenges on the Way

Sometimes, making more money can hurt the environment or make some people very rich while others stay poor. So, leaders must make smart choices to ensure that growth helps everyone and doesn’t harm our planet.

In short, economic growth and development are about making more and living better. Just like a lemonade stand, a country works to sell more and also to improve the stand and the neighborhood. This way, everyone can enjoy a sweeter sip of success.

500 Words Essay on Economic Growth And Development

Economic growth is like a country’s scorecard. It tells us how much more goods and services a country is making this year compared to last year. Imagine you have a lemonade stand. If you sell more cups of lemonade this summer than you did last summer, that’s growth. Countries measure their economic growth by calculating something called the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP for short. It’s like adding up all the money made from every lemonade stand and every other business in the country.

Why Economic Growth Matters

Why should we care about a country growing economically? Because it’s a sign that things are going well. When a country’s economy grows, it means more jobs for people, better salaries, and more money to spend on important things like schools, hospitals, and roads. It’s like if your lemonade stand makes more money, you can buy more lemons and sugar, make your stand look nicer, and maybe even hire your friends to help you.

Difference Between Growth and Development

Challenges on the road to development.

Even though growth and development sound great, they’re not easy to achieve. Some countries have a hard time growing because they lack resources or technology. Others grow quickly but don’t make sure the benefits reach everyone. Imagine if you made lots of money at your lemonade stand but didn’t share with your helpers or didn’t make your stand safe and clean. That wouldn’t be fair, right?

How to Achieve Sustainable Development

To make sure a country develops in a good way, growth needs to be sustainable. This means taking care of the environment and making sure we don’t use up all the resources. It’s like using eco-friendly cups and not wasting lemons at your stand. Also, everyone in the country should be included in the growth. It’s important to help people who are poor or live in places where it’s harder to get good jobs.

The Role of Education

In conclusion, economic growth and development are about making more money and making life better for everyone in a country. It’s like running a successful lemonade stand that not only sells a lot of lemonades but also takes good care of its workers, customers, and the environment. When a country focuses on both growth and development, it’s on the path to becoming a happier, healthier place for all its people.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Complete List of HSC Economics Essay Questions

It can sometimes be difficult to find practice HSC Economics Essay questions.

To make it easy for you, we’ve compiled a list of 20 HSC Economics essay questions into their respectful topic and written a small blurb on what you will need to cover in each topic!

Read through the questions and have a go at writing a practice essay! Ideally, you want to be aiming to write at least 3 pages for your essay .

All of the following questions have been adapted directly from the  HSC Economics Syllabus from the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) .

Remember, feedback on your Economics essays is key to improving! We’ve got you covered with HSC Economics Tutoring Sydney !

So, what are you waiting for? Dive in!

HSC Topic 1: The Global Economy HSC Topic 2: Australia’s Place in the Global Economy HSC Topic 3: Economic Issues HSC Topic 4: Economic Policies and Management

HSC Topic 1: The Global Economy

This topic focuses on the workings of the global economy from a very macroeconomic viewpoint and looks at the impact of globalisation on individual economies.

Discuss the impact of globalisation and trade liberalisation (removal of trade barriers) on the global economy.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of free trade and analyse how technology has increased the quantity of world trade.

Discuss the advantages of free trade and the role of international organisations (WTO, IMF, World Bank, United Nations, OECD ) and free trade agreements in promoting trade in the global economy.

Evaluate the policies used to promote economic growth and economic development of a country other than Australia.

Explain  how globalisation has led to variations in the standard of living and differences in the level of development between nations.

HSC Topic 2: Australia’s Place in the Global Economy

This topic is more specific (and often more difficult) than the previous topic and asks the student to have an understanding of Australia’s place in the global economy, what our largest trading partners are, and what changes to the global economy can effect Australia.

Using diagrams, explain how movements in the Australian dollar can affect the performance of the Australian economy.

Analyse the impact of the changes in the global economy on Australia’s Balance of Payments.

Explain the causes of Australia’s sustained Current Account Deficit (CAD) and explain the impacts of a high CAD on the Australian economy.

Discuss the impact of changes in the domestic and global economy on Australia’s exchange rates and analyse the causes of recent trends in Australia’s exchange rate with the global economy.

Explain the factors that influence Australia’s Balance of Payments.

HSC Topic 3: Economic Issues

This is perhaps my favourite of all the HSC Economics topics as it asks us to examine the nature, causes and consequences of the economic issues that are facing contemporary economies including; unemployment, inflation, distribution of income and wealth as well as sustainable development.

Analyse the causes of unemployment and their effects on the Australian economy.

Explain the causes of inflation and the impacts of high inflation on the Australian economy.

Discuss the consequences of an unequal distribution of income and wealth and the impact of fiscal policy on the distribution of income in Australia.

Analyse the changing sources of economic growth and their effects on the Australian economy and business cycle.

Examine the economic issues associated with the goal of ecologically sustainable development.

HSC Topic 4: Economic Policies and Management

This topic looks at the aims and implementation of economic policies in the Australian economy and asks us to respond to hypothetical situations.

Analyse how macroeconomic policy (i.e. Fiscal and Monetary Policy) can be used to achieve external stability.

Explain the method behind how a Government can finance a budget deficit.

Evaluate the rationale behind the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target inflation rate and explain why monetary policy suffers from a time lag limitation.

Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of having a minimum wage and explain the national system for determining the minimum wage.

Using diagrams, explain how market-based policies can assign a price to a negative externality (e.g. pollution) and improve the quality of life through a paradoxical reduction in consumption.

And that wraps up our list of 20 HSC Economics essay questions! Good luck!

On the hunt for other HSC Economics resources?

Check out some of our other articles and guides below:

• How to Write a Band 6 HSC Economics Essay
• HSC Economics Past Papers Master List
• How to Write Effective HSC Economics Study Notes

If you’re also taking Business Studies as a subject, you should check out our essential guide to writing a   Business Studies report !

Looking for some extra help with HSC Economics?

We pride ourselves on our inspirational hsc economics coaches and mentors.

We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home, online or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today! 

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on TikTok !

Thomas Woolley loves Economics and Business Studies. He completed his HSC in 2013 and has been working at Art of Smart since 2014. He enjoys helping out his students whilst studying B Commerce / B Education at UNSW to become an actual economics/business studies teacher in 2018. Since high school Thomas has also learned to scuba dive, salsa dance, and he can fly a quadcopter like a pro. However, he still cannot skateboard.

• Topics: 🏦 Economics , ✍️ Learn

Related Articles

The ultimate guide to getting a band 6 in hsc economics, how to step up from year 11 and ace hsc economics, hsc economics review ep #29: exam question predictions 2021, 45,861 students have a head start....

Get exclusive study content & advice from our team of experts delivered weekly to your inbox!

Looking for Economics Support?

Discover how we can help you!

We provide services in

New south wales, queensland and victoria.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts .

Recreation Economy for Rural Communities 2024 Application

On September 5, 2024, from 3:30-5:00 pm Eastern, EPA will hold a webinar for those interested in applying to the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities program. To join the webinar, please register here .

We are now accepting applications for the next round of Recreation Economy for Rural Communities planning assistance. The deadline to apply is 11:59 pm Eastern on October 16, 2024 .

On this page, you will find information on the RERC program and the application process.  

On this page:

Eligibility and Special Considerations

How to apply, selection criteria.

Outdoor activities are increasingly popular across the United States, and many communities are seeking to grow their outdoor recreation and tourism economy, while investing in their Main Streets and conserving forests and other natural lands. Encouraging growth on Main Streets and in existing neighborhoods while promoting outdoor recreation can help foster community revitalization, protect air and water quality, create jobs, support economic growth and diversification and offer new opportunities for people to connect with the natural world.

With Recreation Economy for Rural Communities assistance, a planning team will help communities bring together local residents and other stakeholders to decide on strategies and an action plan to grow the local outdoor recreation economy. The planning assistance process will take place over 8 to 12 months, with a focal point being a facilitated community workshop. At the workshop, participants will work together to identify a vision, goals, and specific actions to realize the locally set goals.

Partner communities are encouraged to pursue activities that foster environmentally friendly community development and Main Street revitalization through the conservation and sustainable use of public or private forests or other natural resources. Examples could include:

• Ensuring local residents, including young people, have connections and opportunities related to nearby outdoor assets to foster community pride, good stewardship, and local economic benefits.
• Creating or expanding trail networks to attract overnight visitors and new businesses and foster use by local residents.
• Developing in-town amenities, such as broadband service; electric vehicle charging; housing; or shops, restaurants, or breweries, to serve residents and attract new visitors and residents with an interest in nearby outdoor assets.
• Marketing local downtowns and Main Streets as gateways to nearby natural lands to capture and amplify outdoor recreation dollars.
• Developing a community consensus on the management of outdoor assets to reduce potential conflicts and ensure sustainable use of resources.
• Engaging in stewardship of outdoor recreation assets and mitigating and adapting to climate change and other environmental challenges.
• Ensuring that all residents and visitors, particularly those who have not historically been engaged in outdoor recreation and Main Street revitalization efforts, have equitable access to and can benefit from the growing outdoor recreation economy.

Eligible applicants include local governments, Tribes, nonprofit organizations and institutions representing any community in the United States. Local colleges, universities and extension agencies can also serve as the lead organization for the assistance.

Applicants must be located in, and project activities must be focused within, the United States, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa.

Special consideration will be given to the following:

• Small towns and rural communities
• Economically disadvantaged communities
• Tribal and Alaskan Native Village communities
• Communities located in the Northern Border region of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York (visit the Northern Border Regional Commission's website for a list of counties in this region)
• Communities located in the Appalachian region (visit the Appalachian Commission's website for a list of communities in this region) 
• Communities located in the Denali region representing rural Alaska (visit the Denali Commission's website for a list of communities in this region)

Access the Application Form

Access the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities Application Form here.  

Please use the Application Form to apply for RERC assistance. Your application should provide specifics that will help us understand how this planning assistance would help you and your partners to revitalize a Main Street or neighborhood through development of the local outdoor recreation economy.

The application includes the following questions:

• What is the geographic scope that you would like to focus on for your RERC project (e.g., neighborhood, town, county, region)?
• What is the area's demographic makeup (race, ethnicity, socioeconomic, age, etc.)?
• What environmental challenges is your community facing? These issues could include mitigating and adapting to climate change; addressing invasive species, wildfire, flooding, and other disasters; land conservation and stewardship of natural resources and outdoor recreation assets; addressing challenges resulting from a transition from resource extraction to non-extractive uses; and others. How will this assistance help address the environmental challenges that you’ve identified?
• What outdoor recreation assets and natural resources does your community have that you would like to build upon?
• What challenges does your community face around economic development and creating access to economic opportunity for all?
• What challenges does your community face in terms of Main Street and downtown revitalization? If your community doesn’t have a traditional “Main Street,” please share any relevant placemaking themes and challenges. 
• What plans and programs does your community envision and/or have underway to support outdoor recreation and Main Street revitalization (e.g., local comprehensive plan, regional economic development plan, state comprehensive outdoor recreation plan, etc.)? How will this assistance support or advance the development or implementation of those plans? 
• What strategies and opportunities to build on the outdoor recreation economy and strengthen Main Street revitalization would you like to explore? How would you like to build upon your natural assets with a focus on economic development?
• How would a community workshop through the Recreation Economy for Rural Communities program help you achieve your outdoor recreation and Main Street revitalization goals?
• How will your community engage with, encourage participation from, and/or increase access to outdoor recreation for underserved community members, including people of color, people with disabilities, people who are experiencing economic distress, and others who have been underserved or otherwise left out of previous planning efforts? How would a RERC workshop assist in engaging these community members in conversations about outdoor recreation and Main Street revitalization?
• As part of the RERC program, each selected community is asked to form a diverse steering committee to guide the project and participate in planning meetings in advance of the workshop. Having a steering committee that represents all segments of the local community leads to more meaningful participation among residents, community organizations, and other stakeholders. Local steering committees often include representatives from local, regional, and/or state government; community organizations that represent various interests within the community; businesses; residents; and others. Please identify who could participate in your local steering committee (name and organization they represent) in the space below.

Applicants must identify a point of contact from the lead organization who will be available for the duration of the project to lead coordination of local participation and to work with the planning assistance team.

Letters of support are not required. However, some applicants might wish to strengthen their applications by having partner organizations or local elected officials pledge to support the process and implementation of the resulting action plan. All letters of support should be uploaded as a single combined PDF file on the application page.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 16, 2024 .

Selection of partner communities will consider:

• The community is challenged by disinvestment downtown or in long-established neighborhoods.
• The project benefits a traditionally underserved or high-poverty community.
• The community faces significant economic challenges.
• The community represents one or more of the special consideration categories (small town or rural community, economically disadvantaged, Tribal or Alaskan Native Village community, Northern Border Regional Commission region, Appalachian Regional Commission region and/or Denali Regional Commission region). 
• The lead organization has enough capacity and resources to help plan the workshop and implement the resulting action plan.
• The lead organization could benefit from federal assistance to help plan a public workshop and convene stakeholders.
• The lead organization has demonstrated the ability to benefit from other federal assistance it has received (if any).
• The project supports the development of the local recreation economy in a way that helps revitalize downtown or existing neighborhoods, promotes economic development, and increases sustainable use of forests or other natural lands.
• The community wants to address problems within the built environment, and the project has clear place-based benefits.
• The project has environmental benefits or a connection to the protection of forests or other natural lands.
• The applicant's goals and expectations fit with the scope and nature of the assistance.
• This planning assistance effort would complement any previous federal investments in the community.
• The project's location has (or the community is working to develop) the assets of a traditional downtown or close-in neighborhood, such as a centralized business district, walkable streets, or traditional Main Street development. If your community doesn't have a traditional "Main Street," the applicant has shared additional placemaking themes and challenges your community faces.
• Given the intended project and goals, the applicant has identified appropriate partners, including within the local government, community organizations, businesses, residents and others.
• The applicant has a history of working with the identified partners or has shown a willingness to do so.
• The applicant has demonstrated a commitment to working with historically marginalized groups or groups adversely affected by inequality.
• The applicant has demonstrated a commitment to encouraging participation from and engaging with underserved community members, including people of color, people with disabilities, people who are experiencing economic distress and others who have been underserved or otherwise left out of previous planning efforts. 

We will contact all selected and non-selected communities upon completion of the review process in early 2025. Workshops in the selected communities are expected to be scheduled in 2025.

If you have questions about Recreation Economy for Rural Communities planning assistance or the application process, please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Recreation Economy for Rural Communities .

If your question is not answered there, please email [email protected] .

• Smart Growth Home
• About Smart Growth
• Technical Assistance
• Examples of Smart Growth
• Publications
• Webinars, Videos, and Podcasts
• Smart Growth in Your Community

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Commerce Invests $10.7 Million for Water Infrastructure Improvements to Support Job Growth in Hazard, Kentucky

• Share this page

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding $10.7 million for water infrastructure improvements needed to support job growth and economic resiliency in the region.

This grant will provide for increased water service at the Coal Fields Regional Industrial Park, providing greater capacity to local businesses. This EDA investment will be matched with $2.7 million in local funds and is expected to retain more than 100 jobs, according to grantee estimates.

“The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that infrastructure is key to building an economy that works for all Americans, and that America’s workers are the source of our country’s innovation and competitiveness,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo . “That’s why this grant is so important, as it will provide increased services to local businesses and protect critical workforce opportunities in the region.”

“The Economic Development Administration works closely with communities to support locally driven disaster recovery and resiliency efforts,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo . “This project will provide critical infrastructure improvements to help diversify the regional economy and create jobs.”

“The Biden-Harris administration understands that, when we invest in critical infrastructure, we set our communities up for success for generations to come,” said Governor Andy Beshear . “We’re building our new Kentucky home, where opportunity is possible for all our people. This investment will have a significant impact and help bring jobs to some of our hardest hit communities.”

“Our goal is to improve water for everyone in Perry County and to make lengthy water outages a thing of the past. This is a major project that includes building a new water treatment plant and extending new lines from Buckhorn to Chavies, and this investment from EDA puts us on the path to construction,” said Representative Hal Rogers (KY-05) . “This project will improve water quality for residents, businesses and schools across the county, paving the way for future economic development.”

This project is funded under the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023, which provided EDA with $483 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program funds for disaster relief and recovery for areas that received a major disaster declaration under the  Robert T. Stafford Act  as a result of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, wildfires, flooding, and other natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2021 and 2022. Please visit EDA’s  Disaster Supplemental webpage  for more information.

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration ( www.eda.gov ) The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA invests in communities and supports regional collaboration in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.

• Disaster Recovery
• EDA Program List
• Find Open Funding
• Resources & Tools
• Accessibility
• Commerce.gov
• EDA Archives
• Information Quality
• Massachusetts
• Operating Policies
• Privacy Policy