Apart from problems of visibility and invisibility, Espeland and Lom highlight now numbers lead us to ranking, competition, and a change in our behavior to meet the rubrics of our ranking system.
Within economics, the focus on development leads to a ranking of nations. Traditionally, economists have used the GDP for this purpose. Mre recently, they have sought to generate new ways of rating and ranking nations via various indices like the Human Development Index.
Essay Prompt: What are some of the limits of the GDP as a measure for ranking countries based on their level of development? What is the HDR, and what are some of the pros and cons of using it in place of the GDP? IF you had to create your own index, what would it look like?
Drawing in the readings and class sicussion, write a 500-750 words essay (the count is for the actual essay text — not including name, title, etc., and not including any notes or references) discussing the pros and cons of different ranking systems for economic and social development. Make sure your essay draws on both Espeland and Lom and the Human Development Resport, though you are by no means limited to just these two sources. Make sure that your essay takes up the pros and cons of both the GDP and the HDR, and makes the case for your own alternate index. Provide examples and arguments to make your case for your own alternate index. Your essay needs to have a title and proper references — you may use any reference style you like as long as it is consistent.
Sample Solution
