Factors of economic growth
Two countries can have the same income per capita today and, twenty years later, one may have doubled its standard of living while the other has barely moved. The difference is not magic: it has names, and economists at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) track the data that let us analyze it.
Economic growth and how it is measured
Explain what economic growth is and which measure is typically used to quantify it. For a country, what difference does it make to grow by $2\ \%$ compared to $5\ \%$?
Explain what economic growth is and which measure is typically used to quantify it. For a country, what difference does it make to grow by $2\ \%$ compared to $5\ \%$?
Explain the difference between economic growth and recession. The term "technical recession" is used when GDP falls for two consecutive quarters: what does that mean and…
Explain the difference between economic growth and recession. The term "technical recession" is used when GDP falls for two consecutive quarters: what does that mean and how would it be noticeable in the news and around you?
A country's GDP rises from $100,000$ million to $102,000$ million and, the following year, to $104,040$ million. a) Calculate the growth rate for each year. b) Explain…
A country's GDP rises from $100,000$ million to $102,000$ million and, the following year, to $104,040$ million.
- a) Calculate the growth rate for each year.
- b) Explain why growing $2\ \%$ two years in a row is not exactly growing $4\ \%$: what is the effect that explains this called?
GDP per capita
Total GDP can grow while the average person is no better off, if the population grows just as fast. To compare living standards, we divide by the number of people.
The GDP of a country increases from $100,000$ million dollars to $104,000$ million in one year. a) Calculate its annual growth rate. b) If the population grew by…
The GDP of a country increases from $100,000$ million dollars to $104,000$ million in one year.
- a) Calculate its annual growth rate.
- b) If the population grew by $1\ \%$, did income per capita also grow? Justify your answer.
The countries Arta and Briga have the same GDP, $200,000$ million dollars, but Arta has $5$ million inhabitants and Briga has $10$ million. a) Calculate the income per…
The countries Arta and Briga have the same GDP, $200,000$ million dollars, but Arta has $5$ million inhabitants and Briga has $10$ million.
- a) Calculate the income per capita of each country.
- b) Explain why GDP per capita is a better measure than total GDP for comparing living standards.
The factors of growth
Name the factors that explain an economy's growth and classify these examples: building a highway, training workers, inventing new management software, and having courts…
Name the factors that explain an economy's growth and classify these examples: building a highway, training workers, inventing new management software, and having courts that enforce contracts.
Explain what labor productivity is (output per worker or per hour). One bakery produces $200$ loaves per hour per worker and another, $120$: which is more productive and…
Explain what labor productivity is (output per worker or per hour). One bakery produces $200$ loaves per hour per worker and another, $120$: which is more productive and what three reasons could explain the difference (machinery, training, organization)?
Physical capital, human capital and institutions
Distinguish between physical capital and human capital, and classify: a factory robot, a welding course, a delivery van, and the accumulated experience of a surgeon.…
Distinguish between physical capital and human capital, and classify: a factory robot, a welding course, a delivery van, and the accumulated experience of a surgeon. Which of the two types of capital does the person "carry with them"?
What are a country's institutions (laws, courts, registries, the stability of the rules) and why do they count as a factor of growth? Imagine two identical countries…
What are a country's institutions (laws, courts, registries, the stability of the rules) and why do they count as a factor of growth? Imagine two identical countries except that in one of them contracts are not enforced: what happens to investment?
One factory with $50$ workers produces $10,000$ parts a month; another, with $80$ workers, produces $14,000$ parts. a) Calculate productivity per worker for each…
One factory with $50$ workers produces $10,000$ parts a month; another, with $80$ workers, produces $14,000$ parts.
- a) Calculate productivity per worker for each factory.
- b) If the first produces more per worker thanks to better machinery, which factors of growth does the comparison illustrate? Relate it to physical capital and technology.
Income distribution: the Lorenz curve
The Lorenz curve compares the cumulative percentage of the population (from poorest to richest) with the cumulative percentage of income it receives.
Back to the beginning: The country that doubled its standard of living sustained growth of around $3.5\ \%$ a year thanks to continued investment in human capital, technology and reliable institutions; small differences in the rate, accumulated over twenty years, explain that enormous gap.