As we have discussed in class, political scientists, especially those in the field of International Political Economy, often times have a hard time measuring certain factors accurately. In foreign aid, it is hard to measure how effective aid is, and what effects it can have on local economies. Similarly, the discussion of accurate measurement was discussed during the unit about migration, particularly the effects of remittances. The Boston Consulting Group released a study today measuring well-being in Africa. The report, developed in conjunction with the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, attempted to measure the well-being of citizens within 30 African countries. Factors for determining the overall score for well-being included access to jobs, healthcare, the governance within the country as well as personal income. The Boston Consulting Group contends that GDP alone is not an accurate measure. To be sure, it is a contributing factor, but in this study, the BCG attempts to take a more comprehensive approach toward measuring economic growth and personal well-being.
Closer to home, Bureau of Economic Analysis recently announced that it would be making changes the process of calculating GDP. Changes in definitions of certain terms will broaden what is used to calculate GDP, changing the total GDP calculated. Many critics claim that this change in measurement will only produce a different number, without addressing the factors that actually contribute to GDP fluctuation. One article even claims, "The new changes, which will include definitional changes to expand what is counted in GDP, are expected to add 3 percent to the GDP report, while not changing the actual output of the economy."
I agree!
ReplyDeleteThe measurement of economic development should encompass much more than GNP!
I do agree with the metrics listed: access to jobs, healthcare, the governance within the country as well as personal income.
Naturally, as an American, I would like to see other items like freedom of speech and solid accounting standards and effective regulators, rule of law, democracy, open and transparent political process, literacy metrics to name a few.
Very good point. I just wrote a research paper about the infrastructural problems in Latin America especially in regards to transportation. The research paper focused on the infrastructure of airports, where most airports are still government owned instead of private. But in fact the studies has proven that government run companies are to be less technological and low quality to international standards (in a developing country). So, I believe that one of the most important strategies a government can have in order to increase its development level is by privatizing the international transportation system, and only then development through globalization can be successful.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be nice to have a go-to standard to measure the effectiveness of foreign aid and general wellness of people. I really like the proposed options though for measuring wellness, such as healthcare and employment. I believe that in an attempt to measure wellness could potentially bring about actual change and improvement in countries that appear to desperately need change.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is necessary to use more than just GDP in measuring development. In addition to including access to health care and employment, and transparency of leadership, it could be helpful to measure general happiness of citizens and their perception on their quality of life.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that most political scientists and economists view growth solely in economic terms. If you look at developing countries today, like India, many are experiencing significantly higher GDP growth (India expected to increase by 6% in 2013). However, I think one big issue that is overlooked is health care, specifically pertaining to women. In a recent article I just read, private health care in India has limited many women from receiving adequate service and treatment. By this measure alone, it is quite clear that "development" is only subjugated to people that actually benefit from economic prosperity and limited to other demographics of people.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to come up with a universal way to measure every aspect of development considering there are so many different factors. The World Bank states a developed country is one with a high Gross National Income per capita. They then classify countries according to their income level.The Human Development Index reported in the annual Human Development Report attempts to draw on a wider vision of development, including measures of education, health, and standard of living. I think the more accurate way to measure development is in terms of the distribution of wealth across a population with the GINI index. By doing so , the countries can account for how well off their population is in terms of wealth and overall standards of living.
ReplyDeleteI think that is definitely necessary to use a different measurement of development that incorporate different aspects of life including education, health care, and gender equality. The US has historically been very reliant on GDP as a tool to create future public policy. Though as Robert Kennedy put it," It fails to account for the value of social cohesion, education, health, leisure, a clean environment -- in other words, GDP measures everything “except that which makes life worthwhile.” There needs to be more taken into account to create public policy. GDP is a useful tool, but its limitations should be recognized.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-30/gdp-an-imperfect-measure-of-progress.html
Measuring development has always been hard. It is always interesting to see the individual factors that actually play a toll in the outcome or in this case the well-being of the citizens. Different institutions always have different measurements on what countries are truly developed or not, and like Kayla said the World Bank determines this by the countries GNI, but in many cases this is true but not for many. Im glad to see that they are attempting to use different forms of measurement to come to a true conclusion on the effect of foreign aid on the well-being citizens or the development of states .
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