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Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Guest post by: International Monetary Fund

Article Overview: Economic growth is essential for sustainable development and improving social outcomes.4 Growth usually—but not always—benefits the poor; in about 90 percent of the cases in which countries have experienced per capita GDP growth of at least 2 percent per year over a five-year period, the poor also experienced rising real incomes.

Economic Growth, Sustainable Development, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Economic growth is essential for sustainable development and improving
social outcomes.4 Growth usually—but not always—benefits the poor;
in about 90 percent of the cases in which countries have experienced per
capita GDP growth of at least 2 percent per year over a five-year period,
the poor also experienced rising real incomes. While, in general, there is
no pro-rich bias in growth,5 appropriate development of the poor’s
income-earning potential can help ensure that they also share in the fruits of an expanding economy (see the section on “Fiscal Policy, Human Development,
and the MDGs”). Not surprisingly, there is also a strong link
between economic growth and improvements in non-income dimensions
of poverty. For example, a 10 percent increase in GDP per capita typically
results in a 3–5 percent decrease in infant and child mortality rates.6 Similarly,
disparities between male and female literacy rates fall markedly as
GDP increases.7 In this light, fiscal policy can play a pivotal role in
achieving the MDGs by fostering robust economic growth.
Economic growth can support environmental sustainability and vice
versa. Growth can help the environment by increasing the resources available
for environmental improvement. For example, access to safe water
and sanitation has been steadily increasing with economic growth in East
Asia.8 However, the experiences of developed countries show that growth
is no panacea. Good policies and institutions are also important, not least
in relation to fiscal policy; recent studies show that they can significantly
reduce environmental degradation in low-income countries and speed up
improvements in high-income countries.9 Policy must also recognize that
important links run in the other direction as well; environmental quality
and sustainable resource use can affect economic growth.10 The morbidity
and mortality costs of air pollution, for instance, are substantial in many
parts of the developing world, with adverse consequences for economic
growth.

Fiscal Dimensions of Sustainable Development
Prepared for
World Summit on Sustainable Development
Johannesburg, August 26–September 4, 2002

Related Articles
  Introduction: Fiscal Dimensions of Sustainable Development
  Moving Forward: International Community
  2.0 Recent Economic Performance in Africa and Prospects for 2007: Economic Report on Africa 2007
  Overview II: Economic Report on Africa 2007
  2.5 Conclusion: Economic Report on Africa 2007

Article Tags: air pollution, appropriate development, child mortality rates, earning potential, environmental degradation, environmental improvement, environmental sustainability, female literacy, fiscal policy, gdp growth, gdp per capita, literacy rates, low income countries, mdgs, morbidity and mortality, real incomes, robust economic growth, safe water and sanitation, social outcomes, sustainable resource



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