IELTS Academic Writing Task 2 - Economic Success

 

Some people think that economic progress is the only way to measure a country's success, while others think that there are other factors which can be used to measure a country's success. What are these factors? Which, of all factors, do you think are most important?

 

The most common method of measuring a country’s success is to compare GDP or Gross Domestic Product.  This primarily refers to the manufacturing output of a country and therefore reflects the country’s collective wealth.  As wealth can benefit a country as a whole we could assume that the standard of living for the populations resident in the wealthy nations is high but if we look more closely at these populations we may well discover conflicting results.

 

We would assume that a wealthy country would take care of the welfare of its population by providing high standards of health care, education and social amenities.  We could expect that a wealthy country would take care of its children, who are the future workforce, the current workforce and the older generation.  We would not expect a wealthy country to have populations that do not have access to clean drinking water, affordable food and heating/air conditioning.

 

Unfortunately, the world’s wealth is not evenly spread and in many countries, even those with high GDP, the wealth is controlled by a small minority who live in luxury while factory workers,who are facilitating that wealth, are living in unsanitary conditions. World leaders meet to discuss problems which affect the whole planet and are struggling to reach agreements to control pollution.  More altruistic nations wish to see an end to poverty, famine and disease but are constantly thwarted by greedy, selfish leaders.

 

In conclusion, economic progress is an easy way to measure a country’s success and rank the world’s nations according to wealth but this wealth is offset by the varying discrepancies in a nation’s population.  We therefore need to take into account the health provisions and education of the nation’s population and provisions for future generations such as pollution control which are not so easily measurable but important for the planet as a whole. (307 words)

 

Introduction

The most common method of measuring a country’s success is to compare GDP or Gross Domestic Product.  This primarily refers to the manufacturing output of a country and therefore reflects the country’s collective wealth.  As wealth can benefit a country as a whole we could assume that the standard of living for the populations resident in the wealthy nations is high but if we look more closely at these populations we may well discover conflicting results. (76 words)

 

Body Paragraph 1

We would assume that a wealthy country would take care of the welfare of its population by providing high standards of health care, education and social amenities.  We could expect that a wealthy country would take care of its children, who are the future workforce, the current workforce and the older generation.  We would not expect a wealthy country to have populations that do not have access to clean drinking water, affordable food and heating/air conditioning. (77 words)

 

Body Paragraph 2

Unfortunately, the world’s wealth is not evenly spread and in many countries, even those with high GDP, the wealth is controlled by a small minority who live in luxury while factory workers,who are facilitating that wealth, are living in unsanitary conditions. World leaders meet to discuss problems which affect the whole planet and are struggling to reach agreements to control pollution.  More altruistic nations wish to see an end to poverty, famine and disease but are constantly thwarted by greedy, selfish leaders. (82 words)

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, economic progress is an easy way to measure a country’s success and rank the world’s nations according to wealth but this wealth is offset by the varying discrepancies in a nation’s population.  We therefore need to take into account the health provisions and education of the nation’s population and provisions for future generations such as pollution control which are not so easily measurable but important for the planet as a whole. (73 words)