Chapter 7 Project

Economic Growth

Purpose

In this chapter, you have learned how GDP and GDP per capita impact not only standard of living, but also overall modern economic growth. However, a country's economy may need to sacrifice natural resources and the environment to improve standard of living. You have also learned about the recipe for economic growth: labor productivity, human capital and technology, and physical capital.

The purpose of this exercise is to illustrate an application of the economic growth formula and to use visuals to establish an understanding of each concept in the formula.

Directions

This exercise has two parts. In the first, you will demonstrate understanding of the topics covered in this chapter. In the second, you will apply the concepts by creating memes.

Part 1 - Pre-Assignment Reflection

The following questions ask you to recall vital information from this chapter that will help you in the next step of your project. Answer these questions using clear, detailed, and complete thoughts:

  1. How are GDP and GDP per capita related to a country's standard of living?

  2. What can be said about a country that is experiencing decreased labor productivity?

  3. Describe two examples of how a country would decide to sacrifice natural resources and environmental protection to improve standard of living and economic growth.

  4. What is the economic growth formula that you learned from this chapter?

Part 2 - Economic Memes

According to the website Dictionary, a meme is "a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by internet users." You've probably seen, and even circulated, many memes. They flood the internet, our cell phones, and our inboxes.

For this portion of the assignment, you will be creating memes for each component of the economic growth formula: labor productivity, human capital and technology, physical capital, and economic growth.

  1. Develop an image that best represents each of the four components and its effect on economic growth. (Note: the pictures must be original. You may not use pictures available on the internet and/or from other sources.

  2. Use each image as the basis of a meme for each economic concept.

  3. Write one to two paragraphs per meme that explain each picture and how it communicates that particular phase of economic growth. Also, describe a specific instance in which a country has made improvements to that component of the economic growth formula, and explain how it benefited the country's economy.

Examples

Here is an example of a meme explaining elasticity and inelasticity:

A photograph of water running out of a faucet with the words 'It isn't Australian water, but it's still irreplaceable.'

Checklist

Part 1

Part 2