Some people think that economic progress is the only way to measure a country’s success, while others think that there are other factors which can be used to measure a country’s success. What are these factors? And among them, which one is more important than others?
It is irrefutable that economic progress is one yardstick of determining a country’s success, but there is a range of other non-economic factors such as availability of nutrition, primary health care and literacy rate which can be used to judge the well-being of a nation. This essay shall delve into all such factors and also pick out the most significant one.
Economic progress or, in other words, the GDP has traditionally been the benchmark for determining the growth of a country. The true measure of success, however, is to determine how much of this economic growth is reaching the weakest sections of the society. A successful measure of development should represent the life of an average person in a country. It should measure the quality of life of all citizens.
One important factor is the Primary Health Care. If people receive good healthcare at the primary level, they are happier. Their productivity of work increases and they lead a comfortable life. Another factor is the literacy rate. For example, a country like Cuba has low GDP but less than 1% of its population is illiterate. As a consequence there is less crime and hence people enjoy a peaceful existence.
Furthermore, the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is also an index of mapping the success. For instance, Costa Rica has a low GDP, but its people are considered to be the happiest in the world. This is perhaps because it ranks 5th in the world in the EPI.
To put in a nutshell, I pen down saying that Literacy Rate is the most important factor to measure the success of a nation. GDP is just a mathematical value and does not take into consideration many of the factors that affect a person’s well-being and thus a nation’s well-being.