Indians beat Chinese at prosperity game

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World Prosperity Index

What is prosperity, and how is it achieved?

Following a turbulent year marked by a global economic crisis, the Legatum Prosperity Index seeks to answer these two fundamental questions. It defines prosperity as both wealth and wellbeing, and finds that the most prosperous nations in the world are not necessarily those that have only a high GDP, but are those that also have happy, healthy, and free citizens.

The Prosperity Index accounts for 90% of the world’s population and is based on years of statistical analysis and research of objective data and subjective responses to surveys. The data comprises 79 different variables organised into nine sub indexes – each identified as a foundation of long-term prosperity. A country’s performance in each sub-index is given a score, and the overall Prosperity Index rankings are produced by averaging the scores of the nine sub-indexes for each country. Those countries that perform well across each sub-index do best in the overall rankings.

The nine sub-indexes are:

Economic Fundamentals – a growing, sound economy that provides opportunities for wealth creation

Entrepreneurship and Innovation – an environment friendly to new enterprises and the commercialisation of new ideas

Democratic Institutions – transparent and accountable governing institutions that promote economic growth

Education – an accessible, high-quality educational system that fosters human development

Health – the physical wellbeing of the populace

Safety and Security – a safe environment in which people can pursue opportunity

Governance – an honest and effective government that preserves order and encourages productive citizenship

Personal Freedom – the degree to which individuals can choose the course of their lives

Social Capital – trustworthiness in relationships and strong communities
Finland tops this year’s Index, with the United States ranking ninth, ahead of large European nations such as Britain, Germany and France, which all still make the top 20. Finland is narrowly ahead of Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark. Zimbabwe ranks last, following Yemen and Sudan.

 

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What does the Prosperity Index tell us? Its value is found not only in its global rankings but also in what it can tell us about how prosperity is created. The following are ten key findings of the Prosperity Index:

1. Prosperous countries are strong across the board.
Prosperous countries which lead the Index do well in all nine sub-indexes, indicating that the foundations of prosperity reinforce each other.

2. Entrepreneurs at the micro level need good economic policies at the macro level.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are more strongly related to economic fundamentals than any other factor in a society. Aspiring entrepreneurs will often hit a "ceiling" limiting their success if a nation’s economy is not fundamentally strong.

3. Freedom cannot be divided.
While some nations seek to allow one aspect of freedom while restricting other aspects, prosperous nations respect freedom in all of its dimensions: economic, political, religious, and personal.

4. Prosperity is concentrated in the North Atlantic – for now.
Sixteen of the top 20 most prosperous countries sit in North America and Europe.

5. History is not destiny.
Highly ranked nations include those with a long history of productive economies, effective and limited government, and social capital. Yet several other nations rank high that not long ago were afflicted with poverty, oppression, and unhappiness.

6. Good governance is central to life satisfaction and economic progress.
Countries in which sound governance creates satisfied citizens are also the most likely to have the healthiest economic fundamentals and the most entrepreneurial societies.

7. Prosperity means security.
Security and safety function as both a cause and an effect of overall prosperity. A secure nation enables its citizens to flourish without fear of attack or harm, and prosperous citizens provide the financial resources and social capital to maintain safety and security.

8. Happiness is ... opportunity, good health, relationships, and the freedom to choose who you want to be.
The highest levels of overall life satisfaction are reported in countries which score best in the areas of health, safety, personal freedom, and social capital.

9. Strong communities are better than weak governments.
Some countries with ineffective governments still score well on social capital, indicating that healthy networks of families and friends play an essential role in helping a nation function.

10. It's true that money can’t buy happiness ... unless you are poor.
Only in the poorest countries do increases in income have a significant effect on people’s life satisfaction.

The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index

 

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The Prosperity Index rankings of the countries can be found here

The 2009 Legatum Prosperity Index

How India fares compared to its friendly neighbors China and Pakistan

 

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MUMBAI: India fares better in overall prosperity, despite weak economic indicators, and is ranked 45th in the world, ahead of China’s 75th rank,
according to indices compiled by global think tank, Legatum Institute. from Global Times Forum.

The composite prosperity index is compiled based on nine parameters, including factors such as economic fundamentals, environment for entrepreneurship and innovation, access to quality education, democratic institutions, governance, health, personal freedom, social capital and security. The index ranks world’s 104 countries, covering 90% of the world’s population.

Finland tops the Index, followed by Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark; the United States is 9th and the United Kingdom is 13th. India is ranked 5th on measures of social capital, which reflects among others, the percentage of citizens who volunteer, give charity, help strangers, and who feel they can rely on family and friends. In this area, India is ahead of Finland, the US, and the UK which occupy the sixth, seventh and the 11th spot, respectively.

India has outperformed China on several economic indicators as it performed well in the critical non-economic factors, such as personal freedom which encompasses freedom of speech and religion, national tolerance for immigrants and ethnic and racial minorities, for which India ranks 47th globally compared with China’s 91st place.

“Although, China outperforms India on several economic indicators, India is 30 places higher in the final rankings because of China’s poor levels of personal freedom and democracy,” said William Inboden, senior vice-president of the Legatum Institute. “However, there are some areas of concern for India, particularly in the quality of healthcare and education for which India ranks 88th and 86th, respectively,” concluded Mr Inboden.

Interestingly, Austria tops the list as far as health as a parameter is concerned, according to Legatum. While Norway tops the ranking in education, personal freedom and social security, New Zealand tops social capital ranking. While Switzerland tops the rankings for democratic institutions, Hong Kong tops economic fundamentals’ ranking. The United States tops the entrepreneurship and innovation ranking. Denmark, on the other hand, tops in governance.

Indians beat Chinese at prosperity game- Indicators-Economy-News-The Economic Times

 

[Ray]

NATION WITH A COLD HEART

CHINA DIARY - Neha Sahay

The 60th anniversary celebrations are over, and things are back to normal. Shanghai’s posh People’s Plaza was witness to a sight more common in the capital. As throngs of people hurried by, and neon signs flashed ‘60th anniversary’ from all the shops, a girl dressed in white and holding up a long white banner was bodily removed by four policemen. This is what her banner said, each sentence written one below the other — “The city government forged my signature to agree to the relocation. While I was away in school, they began the demolition. My mother was so upset that she died suddenly. The relevant departments passed the buck and lied. Today, it is the celebration of National Day while I mourn the death of my mother. Whose fault is it!’’

The entire sequence of events — her holding the banner, arguing tearfully with the policemen, and then being lifted away — was recorded by an onlooker and posted on the internet. Netizens also traced her blog. Jin Tingqian is 28 years old, and her story reflects today’s China. All over the country, the 60th anniversary has unleashed a surge of feeling towards Chairman Mao. A karaoke bar had a big poster of a young Mao singing patriotic songs into a mike placed outside. Some people protested, but the bar-owners justified it by saying this was part of ‘Red October’. What happened to Jin Tingqian is also part of ‘Red October’.

Tingqian’s blog reveals that the public protest was a last resort, after letters and meetings with sundry officials after her fraudulent relocation had yielded nothing. The police told her that her protest was illegal. Tingqian writes : “The city relocation force used the authority of the state to take away my house and cause the death of my mother. They did not break the law. Instead, I break the law if I want to meet with a leader. Aren’t the leaders of China the leaders of the people? Don’t the signs in front of Chinese government offices say that they are the People’s Government? What is the law? The police always ask me whether I understand the law. If this is really the law, then does it serve justice or is it a tool with which to trample upon justice?’’

Another face

Actually, the ceremonial parade in Beijing on October 1 also spoke volumes about the way China has changed since 1949. Standing in the VIP enclosure at the Tiananmen gate tower, the very spot where Mao announced the founding of the People’s Republic of China, was an array of Hong Kong tycoons. One more incident from Red October. An 80-year-old in a wheelchair, escorted by her daughter, was turned away from a Parkson department store in Beijing. Along with pets and smoking, wheelchairs and blind people were also banned from the store, they were told by the security guard who showed them the visuals of prohibited items on the door. As a protest, two large cut-outs of blind people, a wheelchair and some slippers were left outside the store by angry shoppers after the daughter went to the press with the story.

Was this less obnoxious than the sign outside a designer store in a provincial capital which showed among the visuals of prohibited items, the figure of a human being in a straw hat and obviously ill-fitting clothes? Straw hats are ubiquitous in rural China; many migrant labourers also wear them in the cities. The Chinese who posted the sign on his blog named it: “Dogs and farmers not allowed.’’

In her blog, Jin Tingqian wrote about her mother’s last words: “When I was young, I heard the adults say that after our Party and Army liberated Shanghai, they slept in the streets because they did not want to disturb the civilians. But why are things like this nowadays?”

China Today