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Policy Summer 0405.Indd FEATURE Is Economic Growth Given Too High a Priority? Winton Bates finds that Australians see economic growth as one element of overall national and personal well-being ’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; believe me, this extreme view, he is not alone in asking whether honey, rich is better’. Those who agree with people (and governments) give economic growth the singer, Sophie Tucker, do not necessarily higher priority than it deserves in the light of its believe that wealth guarantees happiness. limited contribution to improving their well-being. ‘ Nearly everyone seems to enjoy some of what For example, a prominent British economist, Imoney can buy whilst readily acknowledging that Richard Layard, has suggested marginal tax rates happiness also depends on other things, including of about 60% of additional income to discourage frame of mind, health and relationships with work effort and reduce growth in GDP.3 others. To come to grips with the issue of whether It seems to me that most Australians would not economic growth is given higher priority that it expect further increases in income to make them feel a lot happier than they are already. Survey evidence Winton Bates is an economic consultant confirms that increases in per capita income tend ([email protected]). He has not to be accompanied by corresponding increases in reported happiness, or life satisfaction, in worked for many years on public policy countries with per capita incomes higher than a issues related to economic growth, fairly modest level.1 This raises questions about both in his current role and in his why people seek to earn more and the rationale for previous career working in the New economic growth. Zealand Treasury and the Australian In a recent book, Clive Hamilton argued that Industry Commission (now Productivity economic growth is a fetish and should be stopped.2 Commission). Although Hamilton has received little support for POLICY • Vol. 20 No. 4 • Summer 2004-05 9 Is Economic Growth Given Too High a Priority? warrants, it is useful to consider the following questions: 90 • What priority do people actually give to 80 economic growth relative to other matters in 70 Australia and other countries with different 60 growth experiences? 50 • Is it appropriate to interpret surveys showing 40 that growth has not been accompanied by 30 20 greater life satisfaction as evidence that the 10 benefits of growth are just a mirage? 0 • Should governments be promoting happiness 0 20 40 60 80 100 rather than economic growth? What priority do people give to economic growth? 70 Survey data from the 1999-2002 World Values 60 Survey (WVS) shows us the priority Australians 50 give to economic growth relative to other 40 countries.4 The results of eight relevant questions 30 from the WVS have been plotted against average per capita income levels using scatter diagrams (see 20 Figures 1 to 8).5 The data points in the figures all 10 0 represent countries. For convenience, Australia 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 is shown as a diamond, New Zealand as a dot and the United States as a triangle. Some other countries are also labelled where their results differ markedly from other countries with similar per capita income levels. 90 If economic growth is a fetish it would be 80 70 reasonable to expect that people in high-income 60 countries would be no more satisfied with their 50 financial situation than people in low income 40 countries. The evidence in Figure 1 suggests 30 otherwise. When asked ‘how satisfied are you with 20 the financial situation of your household’, people 10 0 in high-income countries are more likely to respond 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 that they are satisfied. The percentage in Australia is similar to other countries with comparable income levels. People who say that ‘less importance placed on 90 work in our lives’ would be ‘a good thing’ represent 80 a lower proportion of the population in Australia 70 than in many countries with comparable income 60 levels (Figure 2). In general, however, a higher 50 proportion of the population of affluent countries 40 30 favour less emphasis on work. 20 The proportion of Australians who say ‘protecting 10 the environment should be given priority’ over 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 ‘economic growth and creating jobs’ is similar 10 Vol. 20 No. 4 • Summer 2004-05 • POLICY Is Economic Growth Given Too High a Priority? to that for other countries with comparable per capita income levels (Figure 3). There is no clear 70 relationship evident between per capita income 60 levels and this indicator of environmental attitudes. 50 This is not surprising in the light of evidence that environmental problems tend to be more severe in 40 low-income countries.6 30 People who say ‘less emphasis on money’ would 20 be a good thing make up a higher proportion 10 of the Australian population than in most 0 other countries with comparable income levels 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 (Figure 4). There does not seem to be a strong relationship between emphasis on money and average income level. As indicated in Figure 5, the proportion of 40 Australians who say that leisure is very important 35 in their lives is relatively high among countries 30 with comparable income levels. Of the countries 25 with the top five rankings on this criterion, four 20 are in South America. It is apparent that for most 15 other countries the importance of leisure depends 10 strongly on income levels. 5 0 For postmaterialist values Australia stands out as 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 having the highest ranking of any of the countries included in the World Values Survey (Figure 6). People are classified as having postmaterialist values if they rank ‘giving people more say in important government decisions’ and ‘protecting freedom of 100 90 speech’ above ‘maintaining order in the nation’ and 80 7 ‘fighting rising prices’. More of the population 70 tend to have postmaterialist values in high-income 60 countries. 50 40 The proportion of Australians who say that 30 good pay is ‘important in a job’ is relatively low by 20 comparison with countries with similar average 10 0 income levels (Figure 7). The percentage viewing 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 good pay as important tends to be lower in high- income countries. Finally, a ‘high level of economic growth’ is given a lower priority by Australians than in some other 100 countries with comparable income levels (Figure 90 8). Respondents were asked which they considered 80 70 most important: ‘a high level of economic growth’, 60 ‘seeing that people have more say about how things 50 are done at their jobs and in their communities’, 40 ‘a strong defence for our country’ and ‘cities and 30 20 countryside more beautiful’. The evidence suggests 10 that people in high-income countries tend to view 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 economic growth as having lower priority. POLICY • Vol. 20 No. 4 • Summer 2004-05 11 Is Economic Growth Given Too High a Priority? countries other factors, particularly marriage and 100 unemployment, have a greater impact on SWB than 10 90 does income. But the fact that economic growth 80 in high income countries has been accompanied 70 by little improvement in SWB can only be partly 60 50 explained by the effects of factors such as rising rates 11 40 of separation, divorce and unemployment. 30 20 What does this survey evidence mean? 10 0 Does the SWB evidence imply that economic 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 growth in wealthy countries is not worth having? Those who adopt this interpretation present a variety of arguments: Are the benefits of economic growth just • people are more interested in relative than a mirage? absolute income; What do the surveys show? • as people earn more they adapt to it and their Three main findings emerge from the survey aspirations rise—so the growth process is like evidence about the relationship between income being on a treadmill going nowhere; and subjective well-being (SWB)8: • economic growth occurs as a result of manipulation of consumer preferences. • People on high incomes tend to be happier than those with low incomes. There is no doubt that relative income has an • Cross-country comparisons show a strong important influence on SWB. This is evident, for positive relationship between per capita GDP example, in the results of a US survey in which and average life satisfaction up to a modest per students were asked whether they would prefer to capita GDP level (of about $US15,000) and no live in a world where they had high relative income clear relationship at higher income levels (See and low absolute income or in a world where they Figure 9). had high absolute income and low relative income. • In recent decades, economic growth in high Half of the students chose high relative income in income countries has been accompanied by little preference to high absolute income.12 At the same improvement in SWB. time, there is no shortage of people who have high relative incomes who are seeking to migrate from poor countries to rich countries to obtain higher In wealthy countries other absolute incomes. factors, particularly marriage and What are the practical implications if, say, unemployment, have a greater every additional dollar increase in your income is impact on subjective well-being associated with a decline in happiness for everyone than does income.
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