Overview of Economic Growth and Development in South Korea Term Paper

Overview of Economic Growth and Development in South Korea - Term Paper Example Todaro & Smith (2014) highlight the traditional tools for measuring development in economic terms such as accomplishing constant growth rate of income per capita to support a country to increase its output at a higher rate than its population growth rate. Gross National Income (GNI), inflation and Purchasing Power Parity are some of the aspects used to measure the economic health of a country’s population. Gross National Product (GDP) is widely used as an indicator of economic development and depicts increased production. It is used as a measure of economic development in South Korea, which reached a high of $1.6 trillion with a GDP growth rate of 2% and $32,272 per capita income in the 2014 fiscal year. While applying GDP as a measure of economic development, it is assumed that increased production creates the need for labor thereby creating employment opportunities hence raising individual incomes, which results in enhanced well-being. It does not necessarily mean that the c oncerns of poverty, inequity, joblessness and income distribution have been addressed. Instead of only focusing on the market value of economic activity, it is important to measure the levels at which social goals are accomplished, for example, whether the society is able to sustainably access basic human needs. GDP encompasses all goods and services irrespective of their contribution if any, to sincere developments in a country’s population, or whether such outlays were focused on moderating the loss resulting from a growing economy.