Question

Can growth be bad? Can aggregate growth make us poorer?

2) Is there any empirical evidence that the marginal cost of growth can become bigger than the marginal benefit?

3) Is GDP a trustworthy guide to economic growth?

Answer 1

Growth can be bad if growth is accompanied by servere degradation of our natural and environmental resources.

There are plenty of examples that prove that aggregate growth can make us poorer. Growth rate that gives rise to the inequalities in society makes many people poorer. Further, adverse impacts of environmental degradation inflate health care bills which naturally make people poorer.

2)

Yet, there is no such empirical evidences that prove that marginal cost of growth can become bigger than the marginal benfit.

3)

GDP can not be trustworthy guide to economic growth due to following factors:

• GDP does not include many services such services provided by housewife.
• GDP does not take into account the depletion of natural resources.