Chapter 3- The international development agenda Flashcards
GDP as a measure of welfare
GDP is the total output of goods and services produced in a year by everyone within the country’s borders.
→ represents economic activity
→ more employment, more welfare, more consumption, more jobs, more growth
→ western countries top the scale
→ we strive for endless growth, endless production → limited amount of resources
Green GDP
= GDP - the value of environmental degradation - P
P= all expenditures from cleaning up pollution
Limitations of GDP as a measure of standard living
- GDP does not account for leisure time
- Does not include actual levels of environmental cleanliness, health and learning
- Does not cover production that is not exchanged in the market
- Has nothing to say in particular about the amount of variety available
- GDP has nothing much to say about which technology and products are available
Alternative progress indicators
- Green GDP
- Human Development Index
- Happy Planet Index
- Social progress index
The Human Development Index
One of the most frequently used development indicators
- One single index between 0 (low development) and 1 (high development)
Combines:
- life expectancy
- literacy
- school enrolment
- income
Used to rank countries by level of human development (very high, high, medium, low)
The HDI- weaknesses/criticism
- no ecological considerations
- focusing exclusively on national performance and ranking, not paying much attention to development from a global perspective
- not paying much attention to inequality, freedom, … within a country
- measures aspects of development that have already been highly studied worldwide
- Data-errors
The Happy Planet Index
= (life expectancy x experienced wellbeing) / ecological footprint
The Social Progress Index
measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-four indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity to progress show the relative performance of nations.
Tries to cover broader dimensions compared to other indexes.
4 key principles:
- Exclusively social and environmental indicators
- Outcomes not inputs
- Holistic and relevant to all countries
- Actionable
The doughnut economy
- Alternative economic system developed by Kate Raworth
- Combining the concept of planetary boundaries with the complementary concept of social boundaries
- environmental ceiling –> 9 planetary boundaries
- social foundation –> 12 dimensions
An economy is considered prosperous when all twelve social foundations are met without overshooting any of the nine ecological ceilings. This situation is represented by the area between the two rings, namely the safe and just space for humanity.
Where is the best place to be in the doughnut?
The yellow part- the balance
→ can be compared to the vision of sustainable development circle (planet, people, profit)
7 ways to think like a 21st century economist
- Change the goal: from GDP growth to the Doughnut.
- See the big picture: from self-contained market to embedded economy
- Nurture human nature: from rational economic man to social adaptable humans
- Get savy with systems
- Design to distribute: from ‘growth will even it up again’ to distributive by design
- Create to regenerate: from ‘growth will clean it up again’ to regenerative by design
- Be Agnostic about Growth: from growth-addicted to growth-agnostic.
Criticism of the doughnut
What do you actually have to do in practice?
The sustainable development goals- general information
- Action Plan from the UN
global organization - almost all countries in the world
- global challenges
- 2015-2030 → 15 years to make the world a better place
- 17 goals→ 169 target → more than 300 indicators
Basic principles of the SDGs
- universality
- leaving no one behind
- connectedness and indivisibility→ one package, all connected. You can’t chose a few, they are all connected
- Inclusiveness
- Partnerships
The 5 Ps
people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership
- the SDGs are all connected to this
The Mdgs- The Millennium Development Goals
Before 2015 (SDGs) we had something similar:
- a global action plan
- MDGs- millennium development goals
- 2000-2015
- Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
- Achieve universal and primary education
- Promote gener equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
5.Improve maternal health
- Combat hiv, aids, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Global partnership for the development
