One of my favorite topics to talk about is the difference between “Economic Development and Economic Growth”. In India there is always a stress on economic growth and given our strong growth at the moment, we are very hopeful of our future. But is economic growth enough for our success?

Economic Growth is the increase in the amount of the goods and services produced by an economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross domestic product, or real GDP. (Wikipedia) On the other hand, Economic Development is an increase in living standards. One of the ways to measure development is the Human Development Index. Development tries to capture change at a larger level since HDI takes into account life expectancy, education etc. which has a huge impact on productivity leading to growth. Thus, development focuses on the overall improvement in the life of every citizen.

In India, we are currently growing at 8% every year which in some ways is a problem because there is no “trickle down effect”. Ideally, we would want the benefits of the high economic growth, to trickle down to the poorest of the society so that the gap between the rich and the poor doesn’t increase further. As I end this entry I am reminded of Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner and founder of Grameen bank, and his words that it is important to break the cycle of poverty because currently generations and generations of families are stuck in this cycle of poverty. It’s a simple, obvious but a very great observation.

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The recent fall in rates is not surprising as the Fed recently finished wrapping up its 12 month $300 billion treasury buyback program and continues its efforts in purchasing $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-backed-securities. Despite rates lingering just above all time lows in the recent months, the national volume for mortgage loan applications is at its lowest point in almost twelve years.

Volume is expected to pick back up now that Congress has passed legislation to extend the home buyer tax credit. The extension now includes a tax credit of up to $6,500 for existing owners buying a new house as a primary residence. The annual income eligibility limits have also been raised from $75,000 to $125,000 for singles and from $150,000 to $225,000 for married couples. The tax credit has been very well received by homeowners and has been cited as a big factor in the recent increase in national home sales and prices in the U.S.

This is a familiar situation in a lot of households currently. And a lot of individuals and families are using loans as their way out of this crisis. They want to get money to pay their bills and just pay it back later with interest. But an important thing to remember is that you can get loans from several sources and each source would have a different rate.

This is why you need to do some research and look for best refinance rates, loan rates, credit card rates etc. If you take this crucial step, you can save yourself a lot of money in these times.

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