| - | '''Measuring sustainable economic progress in Aruba'''<br>Economic growth is one of the most important areas of progress. In most cases when the economic activities increase, the well-being of the people is also increased. Higher national income makes it possible for countries to achieve a higher standard of living, invest in things such as education, healthcare and security, all of which help increase well-being. Economic progress is a tangible measure, which is relatively easily quantified. In the case of Aruba, economic progress is important for the reasons already mentioned above. However, economic growth in the past has been achieved mostly by building more hotels and, thus, using land resources. Also, there is not sufficient local labor to work in the hotels that are built, meaning that labor has to be brought in from abroad. This also places a burden on infrastructure, healthcare etc. Moreover, since Aruba is an island, the construction of hotels can’t go on infinitely. It is therefore important that grow be sustainable, meaning we can’t just go on building more hotels that are foreign owned and employ mostly foreign labor. Growth has to be achieved in another way, which doesn’t use up all the natural resources we have.<br>Aspects that need to be looked at include, of course, GDP and GDP per capita. But we also need to look at the amount of profit that is transferred abroad, the remittances that are transferred abroad and employment rates. <br>Other dimensions of progress are affected by economic growth. First, the ecosystem, land resources are continuously used for new construction of hotels and homes. Public beaches are becoming steadily more scarce. Because economic growth also causes an increase in population, areas such as air are affected and probably also physical and mental health. In addition, economic growth also means people are working longer hours, which can cause a deterioration in interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, because of the economic progress, pressure is put on the cultural heritage of a country through the influences from abroad. A positive effect of economic progress is that the local population also benefit from the improved infrastructure that is required by foreign investors.<br>
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