A different way of measuring development

A different way of measuring development

In studying development we have been looking at how growth is important and that rates of development are often measured by one of the following:

• Wealth (GDP, GNI, GNI ppp)
• Health (life expectancy, infant mortality rates etc.)
• Education (years of schooling, literacy rates)
• A combination of these (Human Development Index)
• Occasionally happiness!

However, Simon Anhalt believes that we should be measuring how ‘good’ a country is. This involves considering each country’s individual contributions to seven different areas from science and technology, to health and wellbeing.

• These can be found here: www.goodcountry.org/index/results
• Find out more about the Good Country Index here: youtu.be/1X7fZoDs9KU 

Student task: 

Look through the data table on the Good Country Index (website link above) and complete the table for one High ranked country, one Middle ranked country and one Low ranked country (according to the table).

As well as writing the appropriate number in each box, try to find reasons why the country has this rank.

You will need to do specific research into each country you write about to find out WHY they are ranked where they are for each element.

For example, on the website you can see that Germany is ranked number 1 for World order.

Why? 

• They give lots to charity
• They host many refugees
• They generate very few refugees
• They have a low birth rate
• They sign many UN treaties.

To improve this answer further, research data to back up each of those points.

More questions for you to think about:

• Do you think this is an appropriate method of measuring development? Justify your answer.
• Does this measurement favour any particular kind of country?
• Are LICs able to be ‘good’ countries?
• Should governments be basing their measures of development on these seven factors instead of looking at wealth, health and education ?

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