economic growth usually fosters democracy and all that it entails, it is less clear that open

societies necessarily experience superior economic growth by virtue of their democratic

practice. A mobile society, with opportunity for all, obviously encourages economic
enterprise and initiative. But democracy is often contentious, even chaotic, and not every
aspect of the untidy process of self-government is conducive to economic expansion.
Experience clearly suggests that the absence of democratic freedoms impedes economic
growth, and that the resulting stagnation, in turn, makes a society even more intolerant and
undemocratic

Not all of the benefits of growth are evenly distributed. A rise in real GDP can often be
accompanied by widening income and wealth inequality in society that is reflected in
an increase in relative poverty.