What’s the best country to live in?

Summary

The video script explores the limitations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of a country's well-being, highlighting its inability to account for the quality of life and distribution of wealth. It introduces alternatives like Bhutan's Gross National Happiness, which considers health, education, and community, and the United Nations' Human Development Index, which includes health, education, and income. Costa Rica is praised for balancing economic growth with sustainability. The script concludes that a 'dashboard' approach, considering multiple factors, is more effective than a single metric for assessing well-being.

Takeaways

• 💡 GDP was invented by Simon Kuznets in the 1930s to measure the size of an economy in a single number.
• 🌍 GDP is the total monetary value of everything a country produces and sells on the market.
• 🧐 GDP per capita is often used as a measure of well-being, but it doesn't directly reflect the well-being of a country's citizens.
• 🔢 GDP does not account for what a country produces or who has access to it, treating all goods and services equally regardless of their societal value.
• 📉 From the 1980s, GDP growth did not correlate with wage growth, leading to wealth inequality.
• 🎉 Bhutan introduced Gross National Happiness as an alternative to GDP, focusing on health, education, community, and living standards.
• 🌟 The United Nations' Human Development Index includes health, education, and income per capita to estimate overall well-being.
• 🌱 The Sustainable Development Index considers both well-being and the environmental impact of economic growth.
• 🌴 Costa Rica is highlighted as a country that has managed to improve living standards without drastically increasing emissions, aligning with sustainable development.
• 📊 Experts are moving towards a dashboard approach that presents multiple factors instead of relying on a single number to measure well-being.
• 🤔 The best country to live in is subjective and depends on individual values and priorities.

Q & A

What is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and why was it created?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total monetary value of everything a country produces and sells on the market. It was invented by economist Simon Kuznets in the 1930s to gauge the size of an economy in a single, easy-to-understand number.

How does GDP per capita relate to well-being, and what are its limitations?

GDP per capita is the total GDP divided by the number of people in a country and is widely seen as a measure of well-being. However, it has limitations because it doesn't account for what a country produces or who has access to it, nor does it include non-market services like public schools or firefighters.

What is the difference between GDP and the value of public services such as education and healthcare?

GDP does not count the value of public services like education and healthcare because these services are not sold on the market. This means that investments in social welfare do not directly contribute to a country's GDP.

How has the relationship between GDP growth and wages changed from 1945 to 1970 and then to the 1980s?

From 1945 to 1970, as GDP doubled, tripled, or quadrupled in some western economies, people's wages often grew proportionally. However, by the 1980s, countries continued to grow richer, but wages stopped keeping pace with GDP growth, and in some cases, declined.

What is the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) proposed by King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan?

Gross National Happiness (GNH) is an alternative to GDP that factors in matters like health, education, strong communities, and living standards. It includes subjective measures such as citizens' perceptions of their family's happiness and knowledge of local flora and fauna.

What is the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) and how does it differ from GDP?

The United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) is a metric that takes into account health, education, and income per capita to estimate overall well-being. Unlike GDP, which only measures economic output, HDI considers the quality of life and human development.

What is the Sustainable Development Index and how does it consider both well-being and environmental impact?

The Sustainable Development Index is a metric that factors in both well-being and the environmental burdens of economic growth. It aims to provide a more holistic view of a country's progress by considering ecological sustainability alongside traditional economic measures.

Why does Costa Rica stand out in terms of sustainable development and well-being?

Costa Rica stands out because it has managed to grow its economy and improve living standards substantially without drastically increasing its emissions. It comes closest to meeting the basic needs of its people while using resources sustainably.

What are the limitations of using a single number to measure the quality of life in a country?

Using a single number to measure the quality of life in a country has limitations because it cannot capture the complexity and diversity of factors that contribute to well-being. It may also obscure important details and nuances that are crucial for understanding a country's true situation.

What is the 'dashboard approach' to measuring well-being and why is it favored by experts?

The 'dashboard approach' involves laying out all the factors that contribute to well-being rather than reducing them to a single number. Experts favor this approach because it provides a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of a country's well-being, taking into account various priorities and aspects of life.

How does personal values influence the design of a country's well-being metric?

Personal values greatly influence the design of a country's well-being metric because different people prioritize different aspects of life. A well-being metric should reflect the values and priorities of the society it represents, making it a more accurate measure of what truly matters to the people.