April 29, 2011
Quality of Life: India vs. China
Amartya Sen in the NYRB:
The steadily rising rate of economic growth in India has recently been around 8 percent per year (it is expected to be 9 percent this year), and there is much speculation about whether and when India may catch up with and surpass China’s over 10 percent growth rate. Despite the evident excitement that this subject seems to cause in India and abroad, it is surely rather silly to be obsessed about India’s overtaking China in the rate of growth of GNP, while not comparing India with China in other respects, like education, basic health, or life expectancy. Economic growth can, of course, be enormously helpful in advancing living standards and in battling poverty. But there is little cause for taking the growth of GNP to be an end in itself, rather than seeing it as an important means for achieving things we value.
It could, however, be asked why this distinction should make much difference, since economic growth does enhance our ability to improve living standards. The central point to appreciate here is that while economic growth is important for enhancing living conditions, its reach and impact depend greatly on what we do with the increased income. The relation between economic growth and the advancement of living standards depends on many factors, including economic and social inequality and, no less importantly, on what the government does with the public revenue that is generated by economic growth.
Some statistics about China and India, drawn mainly from the World Bank and the United Nations, are relevant here. Life expectancy at birth in China is 73.5 years; in India it is 64.4 years. The infant mortality rate is fifty per thousand in India, compared with just seventeen in China; the mortality rate for children under five is sixty-six per thousand for Indians and nineteen for the Chinese; and the maternal mortality rate is 230 per 100,000 live births in India and thirty-eight in China. The mean years of schooling in India were estimated to be 4.4 years, compared with 7.5 years in China. China’s adult literacy rate is 94 percent, compared with India’s 74 percent according to the preliminary tables of the 2011 census.
Posted by Robin Varghese at 01:41 PM | Permalink
Comments
I don't know that "quality of life" really depends on how much oil is in our cells.
Posted by: Dredd | Apr 29, 2011 3:41:57 PM
Short Amartya Sen: One-party "Marxist" dictatorship is good for you.
Statistics about China's economy and social indicators are always suspect due to the lack of transparency. India is also more than a decade behind China in opening up its economy. Thanks to its prior "Nehruvian" growth of rate (that was imposed on the country by Sen's like-minded fellow travelers) India has a lot of catching up to do.
Why doesn't Sen look at the phenomenon that is Gujarat today to make the argument that competent state governments in an open democracy improve the lives of their residents? Because that would not jibe with the Marxism straw that he continues to cling to.
Posted by: Sam | Apr 29, 2011 4:02:45 PM
The arbitrary Dredd plug. Hurray.
Posted by: Varun | Apr 29, 2011 4:56:50 PM
The free expression of thought is abundant in free society.
Posted by: Dredd | Apr 29, 2011 6:09:04 PM
But does it really matter to Abbas the fact that Dredd is using 3DQ to promote himself?
Obviously, it must.
The ball is on your side Abbas.
Soooo many of us have blogs, why use other people's blogs in order to advance our ambitions?
NYET!
Don't plug YOUR blogs on this blog. Comprende?
That's what FEFL would say and settle this issue!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Felix E F Larocca MD | Apr 29, 2011 9:12:54 PM
People are saying there is 'free expression of thought' in India? They ban books like any despotic country. Hell, one might even say a despotic country is better. They do not claim to be something they are not. In India, there are a few place where it is good - exempli gratia, Gujarat, Kerela; and then, there are many places where it is bad. If Modi tries to progress, the Congress do all to stop his progress. And, how is Rahul Gandhi even considered a goode future of India? What qualifications does he have to run a Nation? This is nepotism at its best. Also, I wonder always, what education did A. Raja have to be head of the Ministry of Telecommunications? India's smart need to get in there; but they want to live.
Posted by: Logique | Apr 29, 2011 10:12:03 PM
The staistics are plausible and confirm that india is considerably behind china. Yes-quality of life is not only depwndent on gdp and i bet it is way above china. Rather than bet on a country that has banned culture for the last 50 years and is a highly restrictive governmwnt, i would rather put my money on a culture that is one of the oldest in the world, which has held together one of the most diverse social groups in the world, and which is at ease with a mix of tradition, history, culture, family, humility, and a contemporary quality of life.
Posted by: Sameer chadha | Apr 30, 2011 2:18:04 AM
India is yet another example of how religion holds back cultures.
Posted by: mr.ed | Apr 30, 2011 7:22:04 AM
"But does it really matter to Abbas the fact that Dredd is using 3DQ to promote himself?"
It's probably also a waste of time. Continually linking to your site from blog posts is something that Google would view as very low value link spamming and probably hurts rather than helps SEO results.
Posted by: Carlos | Apr 30, 2011 9:00:36 AM
Additionally, Alexa.com informs that, although Dredd conducts this activity on 41(!) different sites, search engine hits amount to only 10%, so his traffic is driven almost entirely by his personal effort. 100% (or somewhere between 100% and 99.5%) of his visitors only view a single page. There is not enough data to measure the number of visits
Posted by: Carlos | Apr 30, 2011 9:34:06 AM
Neither India or China are remotely survivable.
China is merely the last great industrial power, in a failed paradigm. There are parts of China where there are no flowering plants, as the pollinators are extinct. The sky was green during my brothers last business trip.
Both countries are in sever population overshoot, has destroyed ecosystems, aquifers, topsoil, and forests, and survive on energy dependent industrial AG.
So, it is a moot point.
Pakistan will probably go over the cliff first.
Posted by: Scott | Apr 30, 2011 11:14:19 AM
Everybody link to another blog or site like the writers of 3QD posts do here daily.
They aren't promoting anything other than ideas.
Good. Cross pollinate.
Or end up with first cousin marriage ideology and a narrow meme pool warp.
Further, it will spread humility across the planet to snuff the arrogances of the unkind.
Posted by: Dredd | Apr 30, 2011 11:16:30 AM
But does it really matter to Abbas the fact that Dredd is using 3DQ to promote himself?
Carlos & Dr. Larocca:
I will let Abbas answer that question.
As a blogger who has from time to time linked to her own blog posts here, please let me point out that there is a difference between promoting oneself without context (blog whoring) and reference to info pertinent to the discussion at hand. According to blogging etiquette, the former is a no-no, the latter legit. Most long time bloggers recognize the difference.
Links within a comment do not generate much traffic even from a popular blog like 3 QD. If you want "real" exposure, send the link to a post that you think deserves attention to Abbas. If he deems it worthy and publishes it as an independent post, that is when you get traffic ... and exposure.
Posted by: Ruchira | Apr 30, 2011 11:30:14 AM
I am American but live in China. The endemic problems here will sink the boat. I plan on moving to India as I can see the future there. Here is a page showing the poor quality of Chinese labor.
This is what one can expect from China, if India can produce quality then the world can be theirs. http://topchinablog.com/2011/09/15/16442/
If India can rid herself of corruption it has won half the battle. In addition, speaking as an American, the culture clash between the USA and India is slim compared to that with China.
Posted by: blaise | Sep 15, 2011 10:35:30 AM
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