The New Issues

Abstract

For a decade or so, many economists have been questioning the high priority given by most developing countries—and foreign assistance donors—to economic growth. If growth is the main policy objective, they argue, income distribution and other equity issues will be ignored; widespread improvements in human welfare—i.e., development—will thus occur slowly. Indeed, the experience of today’s developed countries suggests that the living standards of the poorest segments of the population will deteriorate. Simultaneously, economic growth has been under attack from another quarter. Some environmental scientists fear that unchecked growth will make the earth unfit for human habitation not too many generations into the future. Predictions of widespread famine, increased deaths from pollution, and other such disasters are now commonplace. Finally, the “energy crisis” of the 1970s has caused many people to argue that economic growth should be slower in the future because it will be too expensive and not worth the price.