Economic Growth vs Cultural Growth

Economic Growth is an economic term in social studies where there is a depiction of growth in a nation’s real GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and results in an increase of production in goods and services. It also refers to the physical expansion of a nation’s economy and industries.

There are many factors that involve economic growth. Most of the factors cross between the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. A partial list of factors to be considered are inflation, demand, employment, resources, capital, entrepreneurship, competition, technological progress, government policy, investment, and health of the population.
Economic growth benefits a particular society by raising and improving the standard of living of the people. People receive better pay for their work and more jobs can be opened to the public. This can result in lowering the unemployment rate.

On the part of the government, there will be less need to borrow from the private sector or international banks due to an increase in fiscal dividends. The government can also provide better public services and utilities. Foreign businessmen can also consider investing their businesses in a particular country if they see that the economy is strong and growing. On the part of local businesses, they can have the confidence to make risks and improve their respective products and services. Economic growth can easily be measured and is confined to a particular time and place.

On the other side of the spectrum, cultural growth is the growth of the culture within society. Compared to economic growth, cultural growth is more abstract and not easily calculated by statistics or surveys. Also, cultural growth can take a long and varied span of time. Cultural growth’s factors are usually components of culture and society. These can include cultural perception, communication, lifestyle, art, language, literature, traditions, customs, and many other cultural avenues.

Studies are done in cultural avenues to determine if there is cultural growth in any of these mentioned avenues or if there are evolving trends and patterns in people and in society.

Since determining cultural growth is hardly dependent on the number’s side, there are theories of cultural growth to consider when doing a study. These theories include Evolutionism and Diffusionism. Both try to explain how cultural growth works and happens in society and how does it affect people in the same way that the people affect cultural growth.

Cultural growth is also a great tool for a particular nation or society because it creates a new and diverse culture through constant interaction and exchanges with other societies and cultures. There is a hint of progress not only in thinking but also in knowledge. Cultural growth can also be a factor in solidifying a cultural and national identity that can define a country and its people.

Summary:

1.Both economic growth and cultural growth fall under sociology. Economic growth is a term in economics, a social science subject, while cultural growth is resonant in another social subject, anthropology.
2.Economic and cultural growth are also similar in being two of the components to the overall growth of a nation or a society.
3.Economic growth is evident since the economy is a permanent fixture in media outlets like radio and television. On the other hand, cultural growth is more on the research side of the academy.
4.Economic growth is usually determined by a specific time frame (usually within the year) while cultural growth is not bound by a time frame. Growth can be observed as short as a few months up to observations that happened in a span of decades.
5.Both economic and cultural growth can avail and be expressed in quantitative and qualitative research. However, economic growth leans more on the quantitative research, and in reverse, cultural growth is more on qualitative research.
6.Both cultural and economic growth have a two-way approach and characteristics; how or what factors that can contribute to the growth as well as how the growth can impact society, the people, and the nation.

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