Gross national product US$/capita year 2001



The life standard of the Comenius members

Gross national product US$/capita year 2001

[pic]

All countries that take part in the Comenius project have a high BNP because they all are well-off industrialized countries. Hungary has a slightly lower BNP because of the fact that Hungary is a country that was situated on the Eastern side of the ”iron curtain” after the Second World War until the Soviet Union collapsed. The political situation in Soviet affected Hungary’s economic development.

Belgium has always taken advantage of the European Union as a core member of it. The geographical situation in Central Europe between the European superpowers France and Germany has contributed to the success of the Belgian economy.

The highly developed educational system of Finland is a key to the success of the country. Finland can boast about some world class companies such as Nokia. A consensus oriented society is also a positive factor, for example, labour market conflicts seldom occur thanks to the cooperation between employers and employee organisations.

The United Kingdom has a great history as a superpower but it also takes quite a lot of resources to keep up with that status. They use a larger share of their BNP for military purposes and consequently less is left for education and health care which are investments in the future economy growth.

The economy of Spain rests a lot on tourism which is a relatively low skilled business. Spain also enjoys a lot of subsidies from the EU which may slow their own innovation. Their national conflicts may prohibit development as well.

Infant mortality year 2002

[pic]Infant mortality (IMR) is defined as the number of infants that don’t get older than one year per 1000 live births. The IMR statistics can, however, be misleading, because of the concept of “live birth”. For example, the United States counts all births as live births if they show any sign of life, no matter what size or weight. In Belgium and France births at less than 26 weeks are regarded as lifeless. However, most of the countries today use the WHO’s definition of live birth which says that live birth includes any born human being who demonstrates independent signs of life, including breathing, voluntary muscle movement, or heartbeat.

All the countries that participate in the Comenius project are developed countries and have a low IMR number. The main reasons for death are diarrhea, infections, infant murder, physical abuse and neglect. Sudden infant death syndrome is one of the more common reasons in the developed countries.

All the countries have the basic condition for a low IMR number, but different kind of diseases can make the numbers change a little bit. IMR says a lot about the country’s health but with highly developed countries it’s hard to put a finger on the reason why the numbers vary. Hungary, though, has had hard conditions and might therefore have a bit higher IMR than the other countries, but as Hungary joined the EU in 2004 their numbers have gone down.

Diagram over Human Development Index 2001 [pic]

This diagram of HDI is a result of different effects that have been added to each other. Here the infant mortality and BNP of the countries are also included and this is a response to almost all factors that can cause the life standard in a country.

As you can see the Belgian staple is the highest and in this case also the one that has the best HDI of these countries. We have already explained to you why this is the case and also the historical facts behind these results.

Hungary that has the lowest HDI can also be explained because of the fact that they have belonged to other countries for so long. A lot of critical situations and wars have also taken place in Hungary for a long time, which explains the bad economy and the low life standard in the country. Important to remember, though, is that Hungary has a lot better HDI compared to many other developed countries.

All these countries are still quite similar to each other. The fact that Belgium got the best results from all diagrams doesn’t mean that Hungary is a country with a low life standard and that Belgium would be a perfect country. There are always things that you can improve and recreate in a more efficient way.

By Sofia, Karolina, Eva

Different ways to measure welfare

It’s hard to understand the meaning of welfare. Everyone has their own thoughts of what it involves. You can measure the production and economy of a country. You can also measure the mortality and the level of health service. But do you have to be rich and healthy to be happy? We have done some research of this subject. In our essay we will ponder different ways to measure welfare.

You can, for example, look at different indexes and compare industrialized countries and developing countries. There is this PQLI-index (Physical Quality of Life Index). It is often used to describe the quality of life in the country in question. Qualities that are measured are the reading competence, the expected length of life and the mortality amongst children younger than five years. The three variables are given values between 0-100 and the average of the values is the PQLI-index. The higher the index the more developed the country is.

Another index that is used is the HDI-index (Human Development Index). It pays attention to average length of life, the level of education and the purchasing power.

You can also look at the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). It measures the value of all products and services that are moving inside the country. The biggest problem with the GDP is, though, that it doesn’t show the difference between the poor and the rich.

The mortality and the nativity also say something about the conditions in a country. Especially mortality amongst children tells us about the healthcare level and the access to provisions in the country in question. In developing countries mortality amongst children is high, up to 18% when the average in, for example, Europe is around 5%.

The expected length of life is also a very good measurement of welfare. You can clearly see a difference when you compare the expected length of life in industrial countries and developing countries.

The education level varies a lot between different countries. 82% of the world´s population can read but there are still countries where illiteracy is common. In industrial countries the urbanization level is very high and people work in cities. In less developed areas most people still live in the countryside and work at farms.

Poverty is a big problem in many countries nowadays. Almost a billion people are starving. In some countries people don’t have enough food and don’t get all the important nourishments. The poor don’t have proper homes. At the same time the rich live in abundance.

As you see you can measure welfare in many different ways depending on what you decide to pay attention to. You can look at indexes and statistics but do they really tell the truth?

Sources:

Kirsi, Sofia, Daniela, Johanna, Julia

GDP as a measure of welfare

GDP, Gross Domestic Product, measures the value of all products and services produced in a country. GDP is one of the most common ways to measure national economic growth. Even though you see how much money is circulating in the country, it´s not a good way to measure welfare because even though a country´s GDP is high it doesn´t necessarily mean that the money is equally distributed. For instance, countries that distribute oil has high GDP, but the money is unequally shared leading to very poor and very rich social classes. GDP is often used to measure a country’s growth compared to other countries. When politicians talk about economic growth they often mean an increase in GDP.

Welfare can be defined as a state when a community ensures the wellbeing of all its citizens by guaranteeing health care, education, safety and access to provisions. In other words welfare can be defined as social and economicl safety.

[pic]

This map shows the GDP of every country, however, it doesn´t show GDP/inhabitant, which means that bigger countries will, of course, have higher GDP because there´s a bigger amount of money circulating in the country.

|Countries |GDP/inhabitant* |

|Saudi-Arabia |10 600 |

|Nigeria |840 |

|Canada |28 920 |

|Finland |26 500 |

|China |4 600 |

*year 2001

From the table above we can see that the western countries have a higher GDP and in these countries there is also greater welfare. But a high GDP doesn’t always mean that the country has a high level of welfare. For example, China has an explosive increase in economic growth, however, the welfare has not increased to the same degree.

To sum up we can say that GDP can be used as a part when one studies the welfare of a nation. However, HDI, Human Development Index, is by far a better way to measure the welfare of a country, when this index, disregarding GDP, also includes: literacy, education and life expectancy.

Sources:

By Gabriela, Tomas, Katrin, Jens, Eveliina

Measuring welfare

By Wiljam, Jenna, Anna, Caius

How are we supposed to measure and compare the welfare of the various countries in the world? There are many methods and ways to do this and depending on what it is you want to compare you have to adjust your method to it. Also the opinion on what welfare is varies a lot. Some think you should pay more attention to humane aspects while others consider looking at statistics of, for example, economics. Often economics coincide with the welfare of a nation, but looking at it from an individual level money doesn’t always make you happy.

The Human Development Index or HDI is a popular way to compare the welfare of countries. It features three different dimensions in order to cover areas such as education, health care and economics.

These three aspects are measured by looking at; life expectancy at birth, the adult literacy rate and GDP per Capita. The index was developed in 1990 by economist Mahbub ul Haq, Sir Richard Jolly, Gustav Ranis and Lord Meghnad Desai.

The HDI has been criticized for covering too few of the social aspects of societies. However, one cannot deny that the HDI still gives quite a good picture of the welfare of countries.

Based on the results of life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate and GDP the country gets a HDI value. The higher the score the better off the country is.

Norway, Iceland and Canada have each been placed first in the HDI during the past few years. However, Iceland is likely to fall down in the table because of the financial crisis the country has suffered.

World map indicating Human Development Index (2007)

|     0.950 and over |     0.700–0.749      0.650–0.699      0.600–0.649|     0.450–0.499      0.400–0.449      0.350–0.399|

|     0.900–0.949 |     0.550–0.599      0.500–0.549 |     under 0.350      not available |

|     0.850–0.899      0.800–0.849 | | |

|     0.750–0.799 | | |

"from welfare to well being”

Written by Malin Påhls

Autumn -08, teacher Hans-Olof Lithén

from welfare to well being.

The modern human being is well aware of the fact that the standard of living is not the same all over the world. This is a result of the measurements and calculations that can be used in order to compare countries in an easy way. Another important reason why we today are conscious of the fact that welfare isn’t evenly distributed is because of the internationalization of the last few decades. We continuously get information from different media. In the developing countries the reality is different and the access to news is limited, in the worst cases even restricted by censorship. The indirect effect of this is that people in those sorts of countries aren’t aware of any other reality that their own, which means that they more readily accept the bad conditions they live in.

I refer now to many of the developing countries that still today in 2009 are found at the bottom of the lists of GNP (Gross National Product) and HDI (Human development index). Several of these countries are ruled by dictatorship. Countries with a high standard of living and a democratic government show an obvious positive correlation.

I will now present a somewhat simplified comparison of two ways of measuring our welfare. I will try to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of these measurements.

GNP

” It can be explained as the value of the total consumption of goods and services, gross investment as well as export minus import”. //

In order to get a more comparative and relevant measurement between nations the advantage of GNP is that it can be calculated, divided by the number of inhabitants. In this way we get a value of GNP/capita.

The negative thing with this method of measuring the welfare of countries and groups of people is that certain aspects are not included, such as unpaid work within one’s own household and do-it-yourself-jobs. In addition, charity work is neglected by the way of measuring GNP. And so is the work and the commerce of the black market. These aspects are difficult to estimate in quantity.

These calculations should be updated constantly in order to ensure their reliability. In order to compare GNP over a period of time ‘real GNP´is used. This value has been calculated according to fixed prices of the respective year, which means that the value is independent of, for example, the current inflation.

Thanks to GNP calculations the nations of the world have been listed according to material wealth. Statistics from 2007 show that the USA

is clearly the leading nation concerning the GNP of the whole nation. This is 13 244 550. France is in second place with 2 231 631. Finland, however, is found in 33rd place with a value of 210 837. The statistics clearly show that in a greater area there is room for more people, which indirectly leads to a higher national GNP.

HDI (Human development index)

This index can be compared to GNP. They function in similar ways, but in the calculation of HDI more factors are included in comparison to GNP, which mainly focuses on material wealth. HDI gives a more complete picture of the welfare of a nation. The index is built on the life expectancy, level of education, literacy and GNP. The person behind this index came from Pakistan. Today it’s used all over the world and in the yearly reports from the UNICEF development program.

In order to simplify the comparison of countries welfare is denoted on a scale from 1-0. Norway is in first position at 0.968. Finland is in 11th position with France at 0.952. The USA that was in the top of the GNP list is now in 12th place. These numbers come from a survey made in 2007.

The critics of this index say that the way the different aspects are taken into account can be manipulated, and that the interests of the ones who ordered the survey may have an impact on what is included in the survey. This index studies, amongst other things, how big a part of the population has an income lower than 50% of the average income, and also how many inhabitants live below the poverty level measured in US dollars per day.

It’s of importance that the human being actively tries to improve the welfare of the world. The problem is, though, that many factors influence the development. Also factors that we, people in general, can’t influence. I’m referring here to natural disasters that once in a while sweep over the world.

With the help of different sorts of welfare index we do get a concrete prognosis, based on ranking. All this in sake of a better world! The dream is, of course, that welfare would be evenly distributed all over the world. However, we don’t have the capacity or the power to realize all our wishes. In my opinion, the thing is to be on excellent terms with people around you, but above all, with nature!

Sources:

• Course book 2, Geo

• the internet

Living standard and quality of life

A poll in the computer room suggests that Finns aged 16-18 don’t know the difference between living standard and quality of life or then define quality of life as a sub concept to living standard. However, quality of life is independent of living standard. We will discuss both of these in this essay, focusing on the differences between the two concepts.

The quality of life

Quality of life is the experienced feeling of leading a good life. Most often other aspects than those of economic or survival aspects are taken into account.

Quality of life includes a lot of things and the definition varies from person to person. Quality of life may be physical and mental health, good living conditions, a good job, good economy, interesting hobbies, options in life, children, gadgets, experiences, good food, love, and so on.

The total value of what a person regards as important in his life is quality of life to this particular person. People who regard their quality of life as low feel worse, achieve worse and it affects their whole life situation.

On an international level the so-called PQLI-index (Physical Quality of Life Index) is used to describe the quality of life. The three variables used are given values from 0 to 100. The least developed country is given the value of 0, whereas the most developed country is given the value of 100. The categories that are measured are 1) literacy, 2) life expectancy and 3) infant mortality. The average of the numbers of the three different variables forms the PQLI index of the particular country.

The quality of life of a country can be calculated based on the GNP (Gross National Product) , the consumption of goods and services, the use of energy, the nativity and mortality, hygiene and supply of nutrition

Living standard

The concept of living standard is not that easily defined, but it refers to what sort of living conditions people have in different countries. The way to define this concept also varies on an individual level. Living standard is often measured according to GNP per capita. This way, however, doesn’t reveal much about the level of democracy, health care, judicial system or educational system. Thus an incorrect result may occur. GNP can, however, give a hint of the situation and economy of a country. For example, Ethiopia has 700$ per capita whereas Germany has 26.320$ per capita (2001).

The concept of living standard may have different definitions in different parts of the world, for instance, clean and unspoilt nature, the freedom of choice, social and economic safety. In the Nordic countries you may think of nature, winter landscape, sauna, skiing and dog sledging as important aspects.... In France they may consider newly baked bread, Tour de France, Peugeot and Napoleon as important for their living standard. ..... In the developing countries, on the other hand, they are more likely to think about food and a roof over their head, when speaking about living standard.

The will to live

Both the concepts of the quality of life and living standard deal with raising the will to live. Reaching a higher living standard might result in an easier every-day life style, but the easy life style might also be empty and cold, which means that it´s at the same time devoid of quality of life. On the other hand, you may have to endure a difficult life but with your dear ones supporting you the quality of life may still be good.

By Mathias, Marcus, Kristiina, Pontus and Linn

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