In developed countries, growth could relieve pressures on publicly financed social services, greatly facilitating the difficult policy choices that will have to be made, such as the financing of pensions. In developing countries, growth is also considered essential for relieving poverty in the face of a rapidly rising population and for providing governments with the means to develop their physical and social infrastructure.
Many experts are indeed rather optimistic about future growth prospects.
However, even optimists agree that such growth is unlikely to happen unless the right policies are put in place. In developed countries, that means measures to deal with population ageing and efforts to foster increased labour force participation and a more flexible economy. In developing countries, governments will have to develop the basic institutions which are required for the effective operation of a modern economy, such as well-developed markets for land, whereby owners gain revenue to live on, and capital, thus facilitating saving for old age. They should as well introduce measures to reduce child mortality, to eradicate communicable diseases, to provide equal access to health and family planning and to raise the overall literacy of the population, particularly among women. Others are less confident in the ability of growth to offer a solution.