Dr. Lee Sang-jic (Associate Research Fellow) has asked why many people feel vaguely uncomfortable about “economic growth”, which yet maintains the absolute value in the Korean society.
In this report, Dr. Lee (1) defined the meaning of “economic growth” with a numerical value, i.e. gross domestic product (GDP); (2) identified various attempts at home and abroad to compensate for the limitation of the term “GDP”; and (3) explored social conditions forcing economic growth and what is required to solve those conditions.
He pointed out that although it is hard to explain a relationship between quality of life and economic growth measurable by GPD increase, many people still believe the GPD increase is the top priority in our society, while alternative indicators tried at home and abroad since 1970s did not exclude economic growth itself. This limitation is fundamentally due to modern monetary system where most of the money supply is created by private banks in the form of depts – in Dr. Lee’s opinion.
The report proposed three alternatives: (1) the meaning of GDP and economic growth need to be considered more deeply; (2) alternative indicators should clearly reveal the tension between various values; and (3) we need to think how to get out of the dilemma of growth, accompanying with fundamental transformation of the modern monetary system.
“In order for the Korean society to escape from the ‘growth dilemma’ that nobody can continue or stop, a fundamental shift in paradigm and systemic transformation are required,” emphasized Dr. Lee
> Future Research > Future Reports > Brief Reports