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GDP no yardstick of progress
By Procuratorial Daily |
June 7, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S heartening to hear that China will check GDP figures for mistakes and fabrications.
But even if China's GDP figures will no longer be bloated or watered down, GDP is not a good yardstick by which a nation should measure progress in the true sense of the word.
GDP is about nothing more than output. It doesn't guarantee fair distribution or common prosperity; it doesn't create a blue sky or clean water; it doesn't ensure work health or safety.
So what's good about GDP? Why not replace with it HDI (human development index) as promoted by the United Nations? HDI rankings show that China was extremely underdeveloped in 1950 but leapfrogged to the middle-developed category in 1975. In the following 30 years up to 2005, however, China remained stuck in the same category despite its double-digit GDP growth.
Which speaks volumes about the fact that single-minded pursuit of GDP growth did not yield fruits for all the Chinese in a fair way.
But even if China's GDP figures will no longer be bloated or watered down, GDP is not a good yardstick by which a nation should measure progress in the true sense of the word.
GDP is about nothing more than output. It doesn't guarantee fair distribution or common prosperity; it doesn't create a blue sky or clean water; it doesn't ensure work health or safety.
So what's good about GDP? Why not replace with it HDI (human development index) as promoted by the United Nations? HDI rankings show that China was extremely underdeveloped in 1950 but leapfrogged to the middle-developed category in 1975. In the following 30 years up to 2005, however, China remained stuck in the same category despite its double-digit GDP growth.
Which speaks volumes about the fact that single-minded pursuit of GDP growth did not yield fruits for all the Chinese in a fair way.
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