, Squire, L., 1997, Economic Growth and Income Inequality, Finance and Management
But these statements on income inequality have been counter-argued with evidence that inequality was only widened for a short period as it "tended to increase in a first stage and then to decrease at a later stage of development" (Kuznets, 1955).
Economic growth is possible through the exploitation of natural resources, but on the long-term, this diminishes the resources, harms the environment and consequently negatively impacts the population. "At its simplest it can hold that there are physical limits as the Earth risks running out of natural resources. Alternatively the limits can be projected further into the future - for example, economic development threatens to raise global temperatures and destabilise the climate" (Ben-Ami, 2006). A most relevant example in this sense is given by the continually decreasing resources of natural petroleum, already found only in certain regions of the globe. Not only has the reduction of these resources affected the population, but has affected the international economy as a whole and has increased the political power of the exporting countries and the dependency of the importing countries. For the population, these changes have materialized in higher prices not only for gas, but also in chain price increases for all products and commodities.
Then, another side effect of economic growth is once again linked to the preservation of the natural environment. From this perspective, economic growth uses more technologies and more machinery, which eliminates more waste and increases the levels of pollution. "Economic growth results in an immediate increase in emissions" (Bruyn, 2000), which consequently damage the health of the surrounding environment. But the advocates of economic growth might argue that the specialized engineers are increasing their efforts to come up with newer and better technologies, which are more environment friendly. A positive example in this sense is given by the Japanese car manufacturers, which are currently producing small size vehicles, with fuel-efficient engines incorporated. But the overall focus on environment protection has decreased significantly and it was replaced with an increased emphasis on economic growth, as revealed by the chart below:
Source: Carlson, D.K., 2008, Public Priorities: Environment vs. Economic Growth, Gallup
But economic growth affects the population from yet another perspective - that of social structures. To better explain, economic growth and development is generally achieved through intense industrialization, which occurs within large cities. This widens the gap between the wealth of the citizens and the peasants and generates a migration form the rural to the urban areas, decreasing as such the interest and capabilities in the agricultural sector. "Economic growth favours urban workers over rural workers that the latter tend to migrate to the cities and the size of the agricultural population declines" (Bourguignon, 2003).
The population is negatively affected by economic growth in the meaning that they are placed under increased pressure and stress. To better explain, in order to keep up with the advancements made, the population has to readjust and this generally means they will have to put in extra hours. "In the beginning of the industrial revolution, higher growth led to people working lower hours. However, in the past couple of decades higher incomes have actually led to people working longer hours. It seems people are unable to enjoy their higher incomes. Feeling the necessity or preferring to work longer hours. This suggests people are valuing earning money more than leisure. However, this trend may also be due to companies wanting people to work longer hours" (Pettinger, 2007).
Communities that understand the toll population growth has on the environment are more likely to take action to protect the environment and conserve natural resources by monitoring population growth and encouraging restoration of the environment rather than encouraging larger families (Mulligan, 2006). Community actions are more likely to be tolerated than mandates that declare population growth must be limited by force (Mulligan, 2006). Evaluate Effects of Human Activities on Ecosystems
However, no investment can be considered free of risks. The most critical risks to firm operations are the traditional risks (government regulation/legal decisions, country financial risks, currency/interest rate volatility, political and social disturbances), the emerging risks (theft of intellectual property, security threats to employees and assets), and other threats such as: corporate governance issues, absence of rule of law, disruption of key supplier/customer/partner, product quality and safety problems, IT
Population Growth What products and services will interest these new youth markets? The products and services in demand will be those that are most popular in other areas of the world. This is because they have similar tastes and want to own these items. A few of the most notable include: electronics, clothing and toys. At the same time, they will eat foods that have more Western tastes (such as: KFC). The
Yet, in the world today there is an even greater fuel shortage, that can create an even greater human catastrophe, as trees create the oxygen that makes it possible to breath. A the urgent need to develop more climate-friendly energy technologies is becoming keenly appreciated worldwide. Renewable energy technologies are receiving heightened attention, and modern biomass-based energy -- the use of wood, crop residues and dung as fuel -- is
Environmental Science: Population Growth Dynamics Population Growth Dynamics: Environmental Science Population growth generally occurs in five major phases -- the lag phase, the exponential phase, the stationary phase, the overshoot phase, and the death phase. The change in the size of the snow goose population over the years is a perfect demonstration of how the process of growth flows through these five phases. This text discusses the specific events that occur in
Population and Consumption There are a few different links between poverty and population. The text notes (p.169) that "much of the recent international migration has been from the developing world to the developed world," and that many people migrate because they realize that their best chance to escape poverty is to move to another country. Yet, rapidly growing populations are also a contributing factor to poverty in the developing world. In
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