Socio-economic Myths
In spite of continuous research and studies done all around the world on social and economic conditions of various countries all over the wold, there are several myths about the developing nations. In this video, Hans Ronling debunks many of the contemporary myths based especially on statistical data around the world.
It is amazing for me to find out the relative courses taken by various countries over the period of past decades. The data representation in forms of definitive curves and plots in the fields of child health in terms of mortality rates, and fertility rates over time showed huge improvements in health conditions in Asian countries, and their dependence on wealth and education as well. The economic growth of most Asian countries has been in the news which makes the considerations in terms of per capita income, GDP growth are less baffling. However, the current universal strategies under way for African social, health, educational, and econimic reforms are proven to be lacking in analysis due to the vast variations in situations of the various countries such as Sierra Leone and South Africa. It is amazing to realize the gap between the contemporary understanding of the world situations and the actual realities.
I was pesonally alarmed to see the relatively higher health conditions for the most part in China as compared to India, since I have been viewing China as highly industrial and polluted environment as compared to the industries in india thriving on the services and marketing based industries. The graph also depicts that there is a lot that needs to be done in India to still curb the population rates and sustain steady economic growth, which China has already achieved to the most part.
Looking at the distribution of health, educational, and economic conditions of countries from Africa also gives a totally new perspective to my knowledge. With several countries on par with most of the developing nations, there is much to be said about the lack of media attention that the progress in Africa is seeing. This is however not to deny the fact that some of the countries in Africa such as Sudan, Sierra Leone, etc. are still in need of a lot of help. I hope this tool becomes a mainstream utility in future analysis and aid in better policy formations and decision making on the part of the more powerful countries and institutions.