I also agree with Jim Devine. One reason GDP does not measure real growth
in many countries such as India is that the markets there are not fully
capitalized, much of the economic exchange is still represented by barter
and home production. The standard national accounting system does not
capture non-capital and non-cash exchanges in any meaningful way. maggie
coleman
J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. wrote:
> Actually I would agree with Jim Devine that
> economic and social development are closely
> linked and best measured by the kinds of indicators
> gathered by the UN with its physical quality of life
> indexes, etc. Economic growth is what is measured
> by per capita GDP, and certainly having a high income
> allows people to purchase things that they might not
> be able to have otherwise, and the desire for such
> things can stimulate outmigration.
> Unfortunately, I do not have all data sources on this
> here in my office. But, it should be noted that in comparison
> with other states of India, education has been relatively
> egalitarian and literacy is very widespread. The doctors,
> engineers, etc. that one sees in the US from other states
> are generally from upper castes and have had elite
> educations that are not available to most people, with the
> adult literacy rate in most of India remaining very high.
> OTOH, relatively "unskilled" laborers from Kerala have
> sufficient educations to be able to do many things in other
> countries and to have the awareness and the ability to get
> out and do them.
> I originally brought the issue up because Keralans themselves
> consider their low level of economic growth to be a problem
> and to see the outmigration from Kerala to be a manifestation
> of it. Otherwise, things look pretty good in Kerala, especially
> in comparison with most of the rest of India, although some
> argue that Sri Lanka has a comparable record, spoiled by the
> ongoing war there.
> Here are some stats from several sources.
> Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in India, over 100 million
> population, in the north central area, and not the poorest either.
>
> Country/state birth rate infant mortality adult female literacy %
> (per 1000) (per 1000 births)
> India 29 71 39
> Uttar Pradesh 36 98 25
> Kerala 18 17 86
> Pakistan 40 95 25
> Bangladesh 31 75 27
> Sri Lanka 21 14 88
> China 19 32 75
> S. Korea 16 9 96
>
> Some good sources for info and data on the states
> of India include
> Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, _India: Economic Development
> and Social Opportunity_. Oxford and Dehli: Oxford University
> Press, 1995.
> Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, eds. _Indian Development:
> Selected Regional Perspectives_. Oxford and Dehli: Oxford
> University Press, 1996.
> Another source on Kerala is
> B.A. Prakash, _Kerala's Economy: Performance, Problems and
> Prospects_. New Dehli: Sage, 1994.
> Finally, a good book on the role of gender is
> Bina Agarwal, _ A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land Rights
> in South Asia_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
> BTW, I agree with those who stress that some of the
> developments in Kerala reflect earlier social and historical
> aspects and trends. But, there were clear political decisions
> that were made, especially in the 1950s against much outside
> opposition and criticism, that brought about what we see today.
> Barkley Rosser
