For over 70 years, economists have measured economic health using Gross Domestic Product or GDP as the measuring stick. If the GDP was growing, the economy was healthy. The faster the GDP grew, the more healthy the economy. But today, economists say that GDP is not the only measure of economic health.
Wealth exists to improve the quality of people’s lives. Higher GDP does not always mean better living standards. For example, between 2000 and 2008, US household income dropped by 4% even though GDP growth was strong during those years. Higher GDP did not mean higher family incomes.
Two world famous economists recently reported that measuring the health of an economy must include sustainability and human well-being. If US economists had considered the amount of debt, they might have predicted problems for the US economy in time to keep the recession from happening.
The US has the largest GDP in the world but its economic health ranks 15th when health, life span, education and standard of living are considered. Chinas GDP is the fastest growing in the world but when pollution and poverty in the countryside are considered, Chinas economic health is not as good as it looks.
We tend to act on the information that is presented to us. Politicians and economists need to consider more that GDP when making economic decisions. The overall well-being of a countrys citizens is more important than GDP alone.
Your Opinion, Please!
What factors would you include in measuring the economic health of the US? of China?
How do you measure your own economic health? Does your personal GDP (income) measure your happiness and satisfaction?
Vocabulary List
countryside: farming area OR A particular rural district; a country neighborhood. [乡村 [xiang1 cun1] (countryside)]
economists: people who know a lot about how the economy works
factors: things that affect a result
household: your family home OR Belonging to the house and family; domestic; as, household furniture; household affairs. [户均 [hu4 jun1] (household: average) / 家庭消費者 家庭消费者 [jia1 ting2 xiao1 fei4 zhe3] (household: consumer) / 家務 家务 [jia1 wu4] (household: duties) / 桌椅板凳 桌椅板凳 [zhuo1 yi3 ban3 deng4] (household: furniture) / 盡人皆知 尽人皆知 [jin4 ren2 jie1 zhi1] (household: name) / 戶口簿 户口簿 [hu4 kou3 bu4] (household: register) / 器皿 器皿 [qi4 min3] (household: utensils) / 一家人 一家人 [yi1 jia1 ren2] (household)]
pollution: dirt in the environment OR The act of polluting, or the state of being polluted (in any sense of the verb); defilement; uncleanness; impurity. [烟霾 [yan1 mai2] (pollution)]
poverty: being poor OR The quality or state of being poor or indigent; want or scarcity of means of subsistence; indigence; need. [扶贫 [fu2 pin2] (poverty: alleviation) / 貧困率 贫困率 [pin2 kun4 lu:4] (poverty: rate) / 貧窮潦倒 贫穷潦倒 [pin2 qiong2 liao2 dao3] (poverty: stricken) / 貧困 贫困 [pin2 kun4] (poverty)]
recession: bad economy OR The act of ceding back; restoration; repeated cession; as, the recession of conquered territory to its former sovereign. [经济衰退 [jing1 ji4 shuai1 tui4] (recession: economic) / 不景氣 不景气 [bu4 jing3 qi4] (recession)]
Tags: ESL News
