The human development index (HDI) is a composite
index that measures the average achievements
in a country in three basic dimensions
of human development: a long and healthy life,
as measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge,
as measured by the adult literacy rate and
the combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,
secondary and tertiary schools; and a decent standard
of living, as measured by GDP per capita in
purchasing power parity (PPP) US dollars.
There will be glitches in my transition from being a saloon bar sage to a world statesman. - Tony Banks
My blood is tested +ve for Java.
The Sun Certified Java Developer Exam with J2SE 5: paper version from Amazon, PDF from Apress, Online reference: Books 24x7 Personal blog
Originally posted by Mehul Sanghvi:
This thread has "Nationalistic Comparisions" and it has hurt my feelings!
Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
While the results are a rough indicated of the "achievements" of a country, and seem to give the kind of results that we may expect (for example it is often thought that quality of life in Scandinavian countries is very good), a lot of the measurements are quite subjective. For example - a high literacy rate and high school enrolment levels do not indicate a high level of knowledge. I know a lot of people who can (just about) read and started schooling, but don't know much about the world beyond the end of their nose.
Also GDP per capita is a bit of a strange one. One problem it has is that if it is a mean measurement, a country with a few very high earners and a lot of poor people could give quite high figures. One example is the UK - in the last few years GDP per capita has increased, but at the same time the wealth gap between the rich and the poor has grown. An achievement or not? On the one hand we're better off, but on the other hand we live in a less fair society.
The report also poses an interesting question - how do we measure the "achievement" level of a country? Maybe the best thing to look at would be how happy people are, but that's impossible to measure in any meaningful way. Is this even the aim of a country/state?
Originally posted by Jayesh Lalwani:
I agree with you that as far as "happines" and "prosperity" goes, it's hard to describe those things in quantative terms. However, as far as comparisons go, I think that measuring life span, wealth and education is the closest we can get.
After all, doesn't each country want it's citizens to be healthy, wealthy and wise
There will be glitches in my transition from being a saloon bar sage to a world statesman. - Tony Banks
Originally posted by Axel Janssen:
Also living conditions of single groups of people in a country (f.ex. software developers) are not only influenced by the overall well being of the country but a group might outperform the average.
"Thanks to Indian media who has over the period of time swiped out intellectual taste from mass Indian population." - Chetan Parekh
Originally posted by R K Singh:
I myself give salary to atleast two people, one is my cook and other is my maid which I could have not afford otherwise.
Originally posted by Sunitha Raghu:
Life styles of rich "sw" saabs!!!
"Thanks to Indian media who has over the period of time swiped out intellectual taste from mass Indian population." - Chetan Parekh
Originally posted by R K Singh:
If I roughly guess then earning of one software professional generates employement for at least 10 other people.
I myself give salary to atleast two people, one is my cook and other is my maid which I could have not afford otherwise.
Originally posted by R K Singh:
I myself give salary to atleast two people, one is my cook and other is my maid which I could have not afford otherwise.
Originally posted by R K Singh:
And you know in India 0.001% houses have dish washer so maid is compulsory even if cook is out ..
Originally posted by Roger Johnson:
cook? good idea! I know nba star T-Mac has a cook in his orlando mansion before.
by the way, who takes care of shopping then?
I can think of additional issues that complicate such a judgement. Suppose you had two countries, each with people from both Europe and the 3rd world. In one country, both the Europeans and the 3rd worlders might be better off than their counterparts in the other country, yet because they have a higher proportion of 3rd worlders their overall statistics might appear to be lower.Originally posted by Dave Lenton:
... a lot of the measurements are quite subjective. For example - a high literacy rate and high school enrolment levels do not indicate a high level of knowledge... Also GDP per capita is a bit of a strange one. One problem it has is that if it is a mean measurement, a country with a few very high earners and a lot of poor people could give quite high figures. One example is the UK - in the last few years GDP per capita has increased, but at the same time the wealth gap between the rich and the poor has grown. An achievement or not? On the one hand we're better off, but on the other hand we live in a less fair society.
Maybe the best thing to look at would be how happy people are, but that's impossible to measure in any meaningful way. Is this even the aim of a country/state?
Originally posted by Jayesh Lalwani:
Why do you think he needs a maid?
Originally posted by Frank Silbermann:
If we base the index on average happiness, then the index will soon be topped by which ever country's medical researchers first learn to create happiness by stimulating the relevant brain tissue using electrodes.
White and black Americans view Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in starkly different ways, with more blacks viewing race as a factor in problems with the federal response, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday.
My blood is tested +ve for Java.
Indeed, "fair" is extremely subjective, often depending upon if you're going to benefit or loose out by a process of making something fairerOriginally posted by Frank Silbermann:
But I also would not assume that a more even distribution of wealth is necessarily fairer.
If we base the index on average happiness, then the index will soon be topped by which ever country's medical researchers first learn to create happiness by stimulating the relevant brain tissue using electrodes.
There will be glitches in my transition from being a saloon bar sage to a world statesman. - Tony Banks
Originally posted by Jayesh Lalwani:
Hopefully, your salary is enough so that your cook and maid can afford a nice apartment and feed and educate their kids atleast upto Bachelor level.
"Thanks to Indian media who has over the period of time swiped out intellectual taste from mass Indian population." - Chetan Parekh