1. Defining Development

2. Put the countries on the cards in a hierarchy of development- from most developed to least developed.
Afterwards, discuss the following & be prepared to share:
How difficult did you find this activity?
What criteria did you use to rank the countries?
How did you interpret the term ‘development?’
If you used a different definition of development, then how might your hierarchy be different?

3. Defining Development via GDP per capita
GDP per capita lists-
Prepared by multiple orgs- IMF, World Bank, CIA - results tend to be similar, but do differ.
Takes into account relative cost of living & inflation rates of the countries, also uses exchange rates
Often considered one of indicators of country’s standard of living (but not a measure of personal income)
How do they compare to your original list?

4. IMF – 2016 (print lists are from 2015)

5. Defining Development via Human Development Index (HDI)
Composite statistic of life expectancy at birth, education period, income per capita
Developed 1990
UN report- covers 185 of the member states, plus Hong Kong, Palestine
Categories: very high- high- medium- low
New methodology adopted since new reports since then appear lower than HDI figures in previous reports
Attempt to shift from economic focus to human well-being
How do they compare to your original list?

6. This map is from 2013 data- published 2014 (lists are from 2014 data, published 2015)

7. -------> Do you want to make any changes to your original hierarchy
> Do you want to make any changes to your original hierarchy? ---> Difficulties in defining development as a concept “What is Development?” What if we think about development differently, instead of just in economic terms? What if….

8. Defining Development by Happiness
Happy Planet Index (HPI)- index of human well-being and environmental impact (NOT personal happiness but ‘happiness of the planet’)
Introduced 2006 by New Economics Foundation
Other measures (like GDP & HDI) are seen as not taking sustainability into account (esp. GDP --- usual ultimate aim of most people is not to be rich, but happy & healthy)
Weighted to give higher scores to nations with lower ecological footprints
How do they compare to your original list?

9. From HPI’s website….
Wellbeing: How satisfied the residents of each country say they feel with life overall, on a scale from zero to ten, based on data collected as part of the Gallup World Poll.
Life expectancy: The average number of years a person is expected to live in each country based on data collected by the United Nations.
Inequality of outcomes: The inequalities between people within a country, in terms of how long they live, and how happy they feel, based on the distribution in each country’s life expectancy and wellbeing data. Inequality of outcomes is expressed as a percentage.
Ecological Footprint: The average impact that each resident of a country places on the environment, based on data prepared by the Global Footprint Network. Ecological Footprint is expressed using a standardized unit: global hectares (gha) per person.

11. Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index https://www. youtube. com/watch