ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH – THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES

Abstract

The economic growth of countries is influenced by many economic factors, as taken into account by mainstream economists in their models. However, economic growth (and economic development) is also influenced by various non-economic factors. Economist B.F. Hoselitz developed growth models for different types of societies and economies that differ in many ways from each other. According to him, it is necessary to learn from the historical experience of individual successful countries and to create a country-specific growth model. The world economy has gone through two phases of economic downturn and three phases of economic growth in the last 20 years. The Slovak economy grew the most among the countries surveyed especially until the recession caused by the global financial crisis in the world. In this way, Slovakia managed to catch up with the level of the EU-27 average. After this crisis, growth in Slovakia slowed down, although it was higher than in the EU. Of the countries surveyed (EU-27, Slovakia, USA, South Korea), developments were most stable in South Korea, where only in 2020, at the time of the global pandemic, there was a very mild recession. The unemployment rate has also been kept below 4% all the time. The EU economy (including Slovakia) and the US have gone through two recessions. Economic recovery was accompanied by a faster fall in unemployment in the US economy, while in the EU-27 this process was slower.