BALANCING THE SCALES: HEALTH AND WEALTH IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Human development is a complex and multifaceted process aimed at improving overall well-being. The Human Development Index (HDI), a widely used metric, encompasses health, education, and wealth to assess the development of nations. This study critically examines the HDI, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.

One of the primary shortcomings of the HDI is its equal weighting of health, education, and wealth. While these factors are interconnected, they play distinct roles in shaping well-being. Health is fundamentally intertwined with well-being, while education and wealth act as means to achieve better health. This uniform weighting dilutes the significance of health in the human development equation, potentially leading to distorted conclusions about a nation's overall well-being.

Another limitation of the HDI is its tendency to underestimate the disparities in human development between nations. The index's numerical values can suggest a smaller gap in well-being than actually exists. For instance, in the 2014 Human Development Report, the HDI ranged from a mere 0.337 for Niger to a substantially higher 0.944 for Norway. These values imply that the well-being in Niger is only 35.7% of what it is in Norway, a representation that we argue significantly understates the actual disparities in wellness between these two nations.

Furthermore, the HDI categorizes nations into four broad groups based on their index scores, which are labeled as "very high human development," "high human development," "medium human development," and "low human development." This arbitrary division into equal groups can be misleading, as it oversimplifies the complex reality of human development across diverse countries.

This study aims to shed light on these issues surrounding the HDI to encourage a more nuanced and accurate approach to measuring human development. By recognizing the limitations of the HDI and exploring alternative measures that may better capture the intricacies of well-being, we hope to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of human development and the factors that drive it.