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I'm sure there are multiple ways to look at the data and an argument can be made for both sides; but generally speaking I feel like a rising tide lifts most boa

I'm sure there are multiple ways to look at the data and an argument can be made for both sides; but generally speaking I feel like a rising tide lifts most boats. Or to be said differently, rising GDP creates the greatest good for the greatest number of people. (ex. Amazon in Seattle, not everyone shares in the wealth city's new wealth explosion, but most would argue the net wealth creation is positive). Even better, Western European countries that are relatively speaking highly productive and also socially supportive can boast better quality of life for their residents no matter where they fall on the income ladder. That is in opposition to countries with low productivity, or weak social safety nets. The US may be the latter, but that is a different debate. A slowing GDP won't fix that problem; though, I think it is likely that weak social systems impact those at the bottom of the income distribution more than a relatively lower GDP.

mdorazio 6y ago
You're going to be very hard pressed to find any data to support your view. GDP growth has basically nothing to do with quality of life. For that, on the economic side, you would look at median real GDP per capita adjusted for PPP. For example, [1]. Raw GDP growth could boost that over time, or it could all flow to a minority of people and leave the majority of the population worse off, or it could go hand in hand with price inflation and corresponding drop in PPP, or your population could be growing just as fast as your GDP, etc. Consider also [2], which adjusts a common measure of general citizenry well-being for inequality. Japan routinely is in the top 5 on this list while countries with much higher GDP growth are not. As a third point, keep in mind that HN and reddit favorite "life is best here country" Norway rarely tops 2% GDP growth, and a big chunk of that is attributable to oil exports. If your population is relatively stable and sufficiently developed, you really don't need GDP growth to improve quality of life, you just have to properly invest your GDP in the right places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Quality_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Quality_Index [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequalit...

mdorazio 6y ago

You're going to be very hard pressed to find any data to support your view. GDP growth has basically nothing to do with quality of life. For that, on the economic side, you would look at median real GDP per capita adjusted for PPP. For example, [1]. Raw GDP growth could boost that over time, or it could all flow to a minority of people and leave the majority of the population worse off, or it could go hand in hand with price inflation and corresponding drop in PPP, or your population could be growing just as fast as your GDP, etc. Consider also [2], which adjusts a common measure of general citizenry well-being for inequality. Japan routinely is in the top 5 on this list while countries with much higher GDP growth are not. As a third point, keep in mind that HN and reddit favorite "life is best here country" Norway rarely tops 2% GDP growth, and a big chunk of that is attributable to oil exports. If your population is relatively stable and sufficiently developed, you really don't need GDP growth to improve quality of life, you just have to properly invest your GDP in the right places. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Quality_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Quality_Index [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequality-adjusted_HDI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_inequalit...