Limitations of singular measures of development

Question 1

What does GDP mean and what is it?

Answer 1

Gross domestic product per capita is the total income of a country per year in US dollars, divided by the number of people in the country. It gives us an idea of how much a government has to spend on its population

Question 2

What is a disadvantage of GDP?

Answer 2

It measures the economic status for a country, but doesn’t take the living standards e.g. education and health

Question 3

What are the limitations of measuring development

Answer 3

Measuring development is difficult because it is so complex and includes lots of different components.

Question 4

What is development?

Answer 4

Development is an improvement in a country’s capacity to produce goods and services for its population. This usually improves people’s standard of living in that country.

Question 5

Why does using the human development index reduce the chance of a misleading statement about development?

Answer 5

Because it considers multiple aspects of development. It measures life expectancy, income per person and the number of years a person is in school

Question 6

Give 9 examples of measures of development

Answer 6

GDP
Birth rate
death rate
Access to safe water
IMR
Life expectancy
Literacy rate
People per doctor
HDI