The price paid for accelerating economic growth—the case of Taiwan

Abstract

The paper emphasizes that economic growth is not a goal but a means and also indicates that it is impossible for a country to achieve rapid and sustained economic growth without sacrifice. Taiwan, as an example, has achieved very rapid economic growth on the one hand and experienced a waste of resources and a heavy burden of social costs on the other. Since the government has played a key role in accelerating economic growth, the mistakes made by policymakers are mainly due to their ignorance and a lack of careful consideration. Taiwan's experiences can be a lesson to other countries.