Question

In general, how can countries increase their GDP per capita?

invest in human capital through education and training
invest in capital goods such as machinery and technology
place embargoes on competitors

Answer 1

Short answer:
- Yes — investing in human capital (education, training) and in capital goods/technology are classic, effective ways to raise GDP per capita.
- No — placing embargoes on competitors is generally not a good way to increase GDP per capita and typically lowers national welfare.

Why the first two work
- Human capital: better-educated and healthier workers are more productive, adopt new technologies faster, and can do higher-value tasks → higher output per person.
- Physical capital & technology: more/better machines, infrastructure and modern technology raise labor productivity (output per worker) and enable higher-value production.

Why embargoes are usually harmful
- Embargoes/restrictive trade policies reduce market access and competition, raise costs for consumers and firms, disrupt supply chains, and invite retaliation. They can protect a few domestic firms but at the cost of overall efficiency and slower productivity growth. In practice, open trade combined with supportive policies tends to raise GDP per capita more reliably than broad embargoes.

Other important levers (brief)
- Strong institutions (rule of law, property rights, low corruption)
- Macroeconomic stability and sound fiscal/monetary policy
- Infrastructure (transport, energy, digital)
- R&D and innovation policy, entrepreneurship-friendly regulation
- Health and family/planning policies (affect labor force quality and size)
- Openness to foreign investment and trade (with complementary domestic policies)

In short: raise productivity per person (through human capital, physical capital, technology, institutions and good policy). Protectionist embargoes are usually counterproductive.