Measuring Development Human Development Index GDP MGDs

Human Development Index Each year since 1990, the Un has published a Human Development Report which contains the HDI HDI ranks the standard of living in UN member countries according to 3 indicators Life expectancy Literacy rate And GDP per capita

Gross Domestic Product The total value of goods and services produced in a country in one year Dividing this number by the population gives the average GDP per person or per capita Factors Consumption Net Exports Investment Government Spending

Purpose of the HDI To give a crude indication of different levels of economic and social development amoung the UN member countries Allows the UN to determine the economic gap between the rich and poor countries and then research as to why this gap exists and who is in need of assistance Look to Figure 12-1 on page 388

Most countries at the bottom of the HDI are indebted to developed countries WHY? Money was lent to developing countries in order to build up their infrastructure and industries in an attempt move to a developed level by urbanizing and industrializing Yet The money was not always spent effectively due to corruption, emergency, and interventions by outside forces

Millennium Development Goals 2000, 8 goals developed by the UN to target the world’s main development challenges and close the gap between developed and developing countries These goals are designed to deal with the interdependence between growth, poverty reduction, and sustainable development 200-2105 timeline