Economic Growth Effect on Biodiversity Article Critique

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Economist on impacts of growth, "The Effects of Growth: The Long View" discusses, in brief, how economic development of human societies is actually beneficial to biodiversity, in spite of some negative aspects linked to it. It starts with a comparison of two nations -- South and North Korea -- and the way their economics and politics contribute to local biodiversity, that is, the region's forest cover. An identical comparison has been done of the Dominican Republic and Haiti; but this comparison has employed the nations' gross domestic products (GDPs) for proving impacts on biodiversity.

The next half of the article discusses how poverty poses the greatest challenge to biodiversity. It states that poverty has a greater adverse impact than human development on biodiversity. Furthermore, it remarks that poverty minus the presence of growth, together with an increasing population, proves disastrous to biodiversity. Meanwhile, even if growth accompanies poverty, the impact may be just as calamitous. However, once a society reaches a particular prosperity level, growth-related advantages to biodiversity begin outweighing its shortcomings (The Economist).

It has been argued in the article that people have overlooked economic development's advantages to biodiversity. Firstly, the report highlights the fact that, after some particular period of development and achievement of some approximate GDP level, forests will be better sustained than in nations where income or growth is less. Actions of developed countries have been described, which have been effective in cleaning up local marine habitats and waterways. Another point taken up for discussion is, intensive farming (or farming that utilizes fertilizers and pesticides but not much land), employed by developed countries, saves larger areas of land for the remaining species sharing the ecosystem, compared to conventional farming techniques. A combination of clean water, increased habitable land, and sustained forests, brought about by economic development greatly profits other species as well as the overall biodiversity (The Economist).

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Growth is linked to other benefits, as well. It advances states intellectually, and hence, results in creation of more effective and smarter conservation policies, which are further benefited by effective state police forces. Economic development is also typically followed by scientific progress and decrease in birth rates. The latter factor reduces competition for resources between members of species. Further, the article demonstrates how scientific development leads to environmental data gathering and analysis, which can make future conservation a lot easier. All the above factors combined can bring about a more habitable, less competitive environment for all species, including human beings (The Economist).

Merits, Weaknesses and Validity of Arguments

The Economist's report is rather interesting in its explanation of economic growth benefits on biodiversity. Limited literature exists to explain this phenomenon; most authors address biodiversity's adverse impacts. Therefore, this report may be considered an enlightening article on economic development's positive impacts on biodiversity. It contains novel information, which requires further scholarly research.

Another merit is that, in this article, the Economist has made considerable efforts to prove its points through quoting or using research work that has already been conducted and demonstrated by other studies and authors, making the report credible and valid in its arguments. The Economist has taken care not to cite unsubstantiated facts. Moreover, it has used illustrations (pictures and graphs) that help give readers an overall enjoyable experience. Further, the terminology used is simple and written for lay readers' easy understanding. No reader -- whether the common man or scholars -- will have difficulty reading and grasping its contents.

One weakness that is apparent early on into reading the report is….....

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