Summary of the Article

Summary of the article:
World Bank: Youth Key to Economic Growth
Townhall.com
September 16, 2006
In a report released in September, 2006, the World Bank announced that education, health care and job
training for young people are keys to generating economic growth in developing nations. World Bank chief
economist Francois Bourguignon emphasized the importance of investing in youth, stating that it is easier to
develop skills while young, and the need to seize the ʺdemographic window of opportunityʺ.
Approximately 1.3 billion young people live in developing countries, and nearly half of the world’s
unemployed people are youth. In Eastern and Central Asia and in Eastern Europe, surveys of young people
show that access to jobs is a major concern. With a global estimate of 130 million people between the ages of
15 and 24 unable to read or write, and a projected need for 100 million new jobs over the next fifteen years in
the Middle East and North Africa alone, education and job training are seen as vital for economic growth.
The report states that firms in developing nations including Algeria, Bangladesh and Estonia report poor
education and poor work skills as significant obstacles to their operations. Investing in youth by giving them
opportunities at education and job training, as well as allowing them to engage in civic and social activities,
are needed incentives to improve the standard of living and future prospects of youth in developing nations,
and in doing so, enable these nations to generate and sustain economic growth.
-Investing in youth is a key to economic growth for developing nations. The process by which poorer nations can close the gap between their level of GDP per capita and the GDP per capita of richer nations is called

A) the virtuous circle.
B) convergence.
C) growth accounting.
D) opportunity cost.