ECS3709
ASSIGNMENT 5 SEMESTER 2 2024
UNIQUE NO.
DUE DATE: 24 OCTOBER 2024
, ECS3709
Assignment 5 Semester 2 2024
Unique Number:
Due Date: 24 October 2024
Applied Macroeconomics
SECTION A
A1 Comparative Living Standards, Savings, and Economic Growth
(a) How Measurement of Living Standards Between Countries Influences
Understanding of Economic Growth
Measuring living standards is a crucial factor when comparing countries' economic
growth because it provides a more complete picture of how growth affects the well-
being of a population. The most common way to compare living standards is by looking
at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, which gives an idea of the average
income and productivity levels in a country. However, GDP alone doesn’t tell the full
story—it misses out on factors like income distribution, access to healthcare, education,
and overall quality of life.
For example, two countries might have similar GDP per capita, but one may have a
better healthcare system, more social services, or less inequality, leading to higher
living standards. This difference would imply that the country with better social services
is improving its citizens’ well-being more effectively, even if both countries are growing
at the same economic rate. In this way, living standards can show us how well
economic growth translates into actual improvements in people's daily lives.
Different countries might measure and define “living standards” in different ways. For
instance, countries with high informal sectors might under-report income levels, while
others might include more comprehensive social data, such as life expectancy or
educational attainment, to better capture quality of life. Therefore, by focusing on living