(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . China advances strongly in local human development as well as in global economic power and influence [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-06 China is now leading the world in improving the health, education, income and living conditions of its 1.4 billion citizens. That’s according to the Human Development Index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which gives 191 nations a score and ranking based on those four criteria. The latest report shows China has advanced 19 places since the 2015 index, from 98th in the world up to 79th. Other impressive advances include the Dominican Republic up 16 places to 80th, Egypt up 13 places, Bangladesh up 11, Sri Lanka up nine, and Ireland, Thailand and Ethiopia all up six places. Germany, as we noted last week, appears currently to be struggling with multiple issues and has declined five places, as have Slovakia and Afghanistan. Mexico has slipped eight places, Ecuador 14 and Venezuela an appalling 41 places down to rank 120th. The USA has slipped three places since 2015 to rank 21st in the current list. Alternative measures of progress As we saw here yesterday, there is increasing global focus on the wellbeing of workers other than just wages and conditions. And also on the health of the planet. This has accelerated acceptance of alternative measures of progress to the traditional growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and the budget deficit. European nations show the way on global aid Sweden, France and Norway are leading the world on the Commitment to Development Index, published by the Centre for Global Development. This index ranks forty strong economies on their dedication to improving the lot of the five billion-plus people in poorer nations. Sweden scores an impressive 100. Then comes France with 78 and Norway 75. Sharing fourth place on 74 are the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia and Germany. Well down the list are New Zealand at 15th, the United States 22nd and China 36th. A breakdown of the components of that score is instructive. The ‘development finance’ sub-index reflects what most people think of as overseas aid. On this, the USA ranks a miserable 20th out of the forty countries. Top ranked on this sub-index are Luxembourg, Norway and Sweden. Can we have a happy planet too? The Happy Planet Index (HPI) published by the New Economics Foundation is not to be confused with the World Happiness Index, which reflects happiness of people. The HPI monitors the planet’s health by evaluating the environmental footprints of 152 countries as well as their life expectancy and personal wellbeing. Costa Rica tops the world in the latest assessment. The others in the top ten are Vanuatu, Colombia, Switzerland, Ecuador, Panama, Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras and Uruguay. It is extremely gratifying to report that eight of the top ten are Latin American nations. These are usually near the tail of most rankings, whether economic, health, democracy or human rights. Not on this one. Impressive. New Zealand ranks 11th, the United Kingdom 14th, Australia an appalling 88th and the United States a dreadful 122nd. Both Australia and the USA scored poorly on ecological footprint. List of alternative measures of global progress Other rankings we shall monitor here regularly include: The better life index Genuine progress indicator (GPI) Global infrastructure investment index Green gross domestic product (GGDP) Gross domestic happiness (GDH) Human poverty index (HPI) Independent Australia ranking on economic management (IAREM) Index of sustainable economic welfare (ISEW) Most liveable city tables The Economist Intelligence Unit annual democracy index Transparency International’s corruption index WEF global competitiveness index World Justice Project’s rule of law index * This is an abbreviated version of an article published yesterday in Independent Australia. The original article is available here in full for free: https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/locking-in-the-benefits-covid-offered-to-a-troubled-world,17579 * [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/6/2173608/-China-advances-strongly-in-local-human-development-as-well-as-in-global-economic-power-and-influence Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/