The real GDP per capita of an economy is often used as an indicator of the average standard of living of individuals in that country, and economic growth is therefore often seen as indicating an increase in the average standard of living.
However, there are some problems in using growth in GDP per capita to measure increasing well-being. These include:
expenditure to offset the adverse environmental effects of economic growth such as pollution. (These are called defensive expenditure.)
economic 'bad ...
The 'limits to growth' debate, much of it prompted by the 1972 Club of Rome study Limits to Growth, considers the ecological impact of growth and wealth creation. Many of the activities required for economic growth use non-renewable resources. Many researchers feel these sustained environmental effects can have an effect on the whole ecosystem. They claim the accumulated effects on the ecosystem put a theoretical limit on growth. Some draw on archaeology to cite examples of cultures they claim have disappeared because they grew beyond ...
In the early modern period, some people in Western European nations began conceiving of the idea that economies could "grow", that is, produce a greater economic surplus which could be expended on something other than religious or governmental projects (such as war). The previous view was that only increasing either population or tax rates could generate more surplus money for the Crown or country.
During much of the "Mercantilist" period, growth was seen as involving an increase in the total amount of specie, that is circulating medi ...
