Although the assignment was to primarily focus on the GDP and life expectancy indicators and their connection to democracy, I believe that it is important to switch up the indicators in order to grasp a more complete understanding of the world. People can not simply point to health, wealth and democracy to evaluate the success of a nation. One key factor to look at is employment rate for individuals over the age of 15. This indicator allows us to understand the issue of job availability to the general population, and look into the possibility of a small part of the population controlling a vast majority of the wealth, which could potentially throw off the ratings of the GDP. It also allows us to look into the possibility of a retirement age. By looking at the working percentage vs. GDP graph, one striking fact is that countries with lower GDPs have a significantly higher percent of people working over the age of 15. This can lead to the conclusion that a retirement age is very high, if existent at all, since individuals are not paid well enough to support themselves after working. If one of the indicators is switched back to life expectancy, one will then notice that countries with high percentages of people working often have lower life expectancies, which could point to hard, often harmful, labor until the end of ones life. For example, the United States has an employment rate of 62% for those over the age of 15, which allows for a stable workforce with a decent retirement age. Countries like Yemen, Egypt and Jordan have a very low employment rate, which can explain a much lower GDP. Although these countries are not a nation, almost all sub-Saharan nations in Africa have an excessively high percentage of workers with a low GDP, which can indicate a very slim chance of retirement before death. This doesnt relate much to the democratic state of a nation, but I feel that it is an interesting observation nonetheless. What other indicators do you guys feel are important?
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 01:51:42 +0000
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