GDP Growth: Does it mean the economy is on the right track?

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is expressed in several ways, one is the numerical value of GDP, the other is GDP per capita, the other is GDP growth. GDP growth is the most used in politics. This calculation is published by comparing it with the previous year or over a period of one quarter. Again, considering the purchasing power of the people by GDP per capita with millionaire consumer, the general people easily go out of the account. In other words, comparing this average does not give a picture of the purchasing power of the general people. So, many people thoughts that General or poor people are not important in GDP calculation..

That is, the greater the inequality of wealth between the rich and the poor, the more obscure the work of the poor or middle class will be due to the economic work of the rich. Especially in developing and least developed countries, the burden of foreign debt is increasing due to rapid infrastructural development and increasing GDP. Since most of these loans are entering into LDCs in the form of more investment than as written loans. As a result, the burden of debt is falling on the shoulders of future generations, and the budget for social security in the least developed countries is shrinking. This is because spending money on social security is on the list of unproductive sectors. Therefore, especially the elderly who are associated with the ‘informal economy’ or are not entitled to receive any pension formally, have to rely on the income of other family members. This has been going on for a long time in many countries of the world, the thought that a senior poor citizen is demanding social security from the state is also very unusual here.

Sustainable development and GDP

Sustainable development simply means that the future of the world will not face any new crisis. Let's talk about the ready-made garment industry, this industry is one of the water-absorbing industries in the world. With the development of this industry in Bangladesh, the pressure on groundwater is increasing, there is no initiative to manage the waste and dump it in the river to ensure maximum profit. As a result, groundwater is declining for future generations, as well as mixing dyes, harmful chemicals, and heavy metals into rivers or canals, which are entering the food chain and damaging society as a whole.

In this case, countries are assimilating this industry to focus on employment and investment. But not paying attention to protecting the environment. And as seen in terms of GDP, investors are not paying attention to investing in waste management. On the contrary, if waste management is costly, the company's profits will suffer. It is becoming easier for people to understand the visible growth in GDP, but we are pushing long-term environmental, mental and physical health into the tiger cage.

Informal economy is not important in GDP

Large number of people around the world involved in the informal economy, that is, the evaluation of such work is not officially associated with any organization. It is not possible to calculate the work hours of any of them. For example, housewives do housework or raise children. There are also voluntary organizations, social organizations. For example, let's talk about Wikipedia, this organization has no net profit, that is, it has no role in the GDP of any country! There are hundreds of thousands of non-profit volunteers around the world who support our formal economy in many ways, while their profits are nil. There are different types of people at different ends of this informal economy, whose labor is constantly devalued.
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Gross National Happiness

Bhutan has long relied on Gross National Happiness (GNH) instead of GDP. Where GNH has four main considerations, sustainable and equitable development, protection of the environment, protection and promotion of culture and good governance. Countries around the world, especially Scandinavian countries, are trying to get out of the idea of profit-oriented GDP. Because the rich have huge accumulated wealth in their hands, this inequality is bound to make a fuss about the per capita GDP per capita. GDP growth has not become a definitive benchmark for growth, so economists say it needs to be corrected.