The Human Development Index Is a Better Measure of Economic Performance Than GDP Per Capita

5. How are the wealth and productivity of a nation usually measured, and what other factors must be considered when evaluating the well-being of a nation’s people?

Human capital is what makes us work, and working is what establishes are living conditions. That’s why productive countries have had increases in income, which made for increases in education and labor training. This is especially beneficial to third world countries, because as women receive more education, the more they learn about their roles in society, independence, family, and contraceptives - which, in turn, decreases the infant mortality rates. However, in order to be productive for a society’s economy, you need to possess certain skills. Skilled individuals have to work together to achieve success. Those who are talented come to the realization that their skills are more valuable in countries that already have a great amount of skilled workers. Being skilled helps trade, and not practicing trade, or being a closed off economy, has a damaging effect. An open economy will grow

Economic development can be defined generally as involving an improvement in economic welfare, measured using a variety of indices, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). A developing country is described as a nation with a lower standard of living, underdeveloped industrial base, and a low HDI relative to other countries. There are several factors which may have the effect of limiting economic development in such countries. Factors such as these include: primary product dependency, the savings gap and political instability.

Education has various connections with almost every aspect of everyone’s life. Thus, the higher the level of education people are able to reach, the more benefits it has on the individual’s life and the society in general. Therefore, David Leonhardt argues in his article “Is College Worth It? Clearly, New Data Say” that the decision not to attend college is “among the most economically irrational decisions anyone could make,” in spite of the cost of attending college which will be paid off in the long run. Consequently, high education is considered as a major factor in solving economic problems and improving the economy, among other solutions.

For society in general, this suggest that lifelong learning is obtained as the main strategy in ensuring the future abundance of countries such as the UK since it ensures its vision to build a

Factors that determine poverty are gross national product, per capita income and industrialization. To broaden the scope of measuring quality of life Human Development Index came into force. It is the summary measure of average achievements in key dimensions of human developments, which illustrates long and healthy life and to have a decent standard of living.

the lowest levels of education have the highest rates of unemployment. So a stronger appliance of the educational system can steer society towards positive growth, centered around a successfully working unit that can produce better workers and create greater welfare. On the other hand, these workers will also create a more productive society that will eventually cause GDP per capita levels to increase, as well as economic expansion and the international status of the country in general. Education can very well create highly skilled workers, but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that the quantity of working positions

i. In most cases, the more educated a country is, the more developed the country is. The concept is easier to understand on a smaller scale. Imagine two people, Person A and Person B. Both Person A and B are extremely intelligent and hardworking; the difference between them is their opportunities. They both have access to primary school, and do very well. Person A goes on to graduate from a secondary education, but Person B cannot because he does not have access to it. Person B gets an unspecialized job, where he cannot utilize his brainpower. His potential is wasted. After graduating from his secondary education, Person A goes for a tertiary education, where he gets a degree in engineering. He uses his degree to help his country develop. Now, imagine a country primarily populated with people like Person A. The country would develop rapidly. A country primarily populated with people like Person B, however would hardly develop.

Economic development can be defined generally as involving an improvement in economic welfare, measured using a variety of indices, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). A developing country is described as a nation with a lower standard of living, underdeveloped industrial base, and a low HDI relative to other countries. There are several factors which may have the effect of limiting economic development in such countries. Factors such as these include: primary product dependency, the savings gap and political instability.

This is due in part because of the unequal wealth distribution. The top one percent of the richest people own forty six percent of the global wealth. This wealth being held by the rich would not be a problem if they were not so selfish with their earnings. The distribution of wealth leads to the subsequent unequal distribution of resources. Some issues this raises are human settlement and population distribution, economic activities, trade and quality of life. Certain indicators can be expended in order to measure a nation’s wealth and they include: Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Income (GNI) and Human Development Index (HDI). The Gross Domestic Product is the total value of all goods and services. This is a good indicator of what the country is like in relation to their products being sold. The GNI is the GDP plus the income from foreign investors minus the money paid out to foreign investors. The GNI and GDP are not always equal between or within countries. The HDI captures the health, education and income of any given area. It is often a more accurate depiction of what the people are like.

Robert F Keneddy speech on GDP highlighted the unique aspects associated with the understanding of GDP. The speech talked about the meaning and importance of GDP and the misinterpretations that are often attached with the concept. He was of the view that accumulation of material things has remained a main focus of economic agents and doing so community values and community excellence are often compromised. In his speech he presented an important concept that GDP cannot be used as a measure of welfare of wellbeing of the economy because it does not take into account the health of individuals, their standard of living, quality of education provided to the individuals etc. In this way it is not a good option to rely on GDP while having an idea about the development of an economy.

Standards of living can be evaluated by the measure of GDP, level of inflation, net exports and fiscal balance. Evaluation by using the GDP as an indicator would be relevant as it reflects the total national economic activity and the level of wealth of the society. GDP per capita is adjusted for the size of the economy in terms differences in price levels and also population of the country. There are many factors that would affect the standard of living in a country. Some that cannot be measured by the GDP and some that can be directly reflected by the GDP. GDP will be able to give us a rough idea on how the standard of living is in a certain country. Living standards tend to move with GDP per capita, so we can assume that the changes of

College education also has a good effect on the economic growth of a country. College students after graduating get employed by companies when Employees get higher wages and more productivity is going on in a country, it is an indication that a country’s economy is good. “A study by Federal Reserve economists examined the factors contributing to greater state prosperity over a 65-year period and found that a state’s college attainment rates were important factors in explaining its per capita income growth relative to other states between 1939 and 2004”( www.epi.org). This shows that if people go to college and after graduating get a job, they will probably work for a company and will become productive for the country’s economy. “A country 's economy becomes more productive as the proportion of educated workers increases, since educated workers are able to more efficiently carry out tasks that require literacy and critical thinking” (ww.investopedia.com). It is very important for every country to emphasis on college education because it helps a country grow faster. Also, educated people have more productive mind than uneducated people. Less educated people are being denied by companies. (www.net.educause.edu) This shows that companies with higher demands do not hire less educated people and this is a negative point for a country’s economy. Moreover, in the year 2014 4.3 percent of college graduates have increased compared to 2010 (www.nscresearchcenter.org). In year 2014,

The questions are raised as what and how the wealth is distributed or allocated among societies. Countries with similar average incomes can differ substantially when it comes to people’s quality of life such as social justice, access to education and health care, job opportunities, availability of clean air and safe drinking water, the threat of crime, freedom of speech, life expectancy, birth-death control, identity, culture, conservation, equal opportunities, environmental change. Development is important as it covers a wide range process involving cultural, economic, environmental, political, social and technological change of a country. Regarding goals and means of development, recent United Nations documents emphasize on human development measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education as well as people‘s average income which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. In other words, human development incorporates all aspects of individuals’ well -being from their health status to their economic and political freedom. The Human Development Report 1996 of UNDP focuses on development as the end and economic growth a

“A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment.” These are the wise words of Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Thus, there are a set of tangible criteria to help determine the development of a country, of which economic criteria tend to dominate, with indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as other social and security needs of the people, with the recent Human Development Index (HDI) which measures overall well-being of the people. So, with the recent phenomenon of globalization becoming ever more widespread in our society today, there is no doubt that it has impacts, both positive and negative, on the development of Singapore as