We are what we are!
Many times I have wondered why are we so obsessed with GDP-Gross Domestic product nos. which is only a measure of raw economic activities to put it crudely. You go to any seminar or trade/industry association meeting worth its name , the speakers start talking about slowdowns and dip in GDP immediately after the official prayer song is sung and finished!
How many of us really understand what GDP is and how it is calculated with lot of guesstimates,punctuations ,surmises etc.only to include goods,services that are counted and calculated as defined by the National Income Accounting methodologies. GDP in simple terms is equal to the sum of Consumption + investment+ Govt spending+(Exports-Imports).GDP does not include many good things and bad things.In Indian context Parenting, bringing up children by our mothers on their own, taking care of the aged without engaging a care taker, Volunteer work -preserving the nature and resources, the value of culture and the value of resources not being exploited etc are outside the purview of GDP calc. Somebody said if all the fish in our seas and rivers are caught in a year and sold it will boost the country's GDP but the fishing industry will collapse after that!
There is also another flip side -it does not include our shadow economy and its illegal and underground manifestations. Hope only Terroristans and banana republics should worry about this. Certainly (or is it hopefully), we are not one among them.
Nowadays people are talking about Genuine Progress Indicators and Sustainable Economic Development Assessments apart from Human Development Index, Corruption Index, Hunger index,Happiness index etc.
So let us contemplate for a minute whether a GDP number without our mothers' immeasurable contribution is truly indicative of our Country's value and progress!
Many times I have wondered why are we so obsessed with GDP-Gross Domestic product nos. which is only a measure of raw economic activities to put it crudely. You go to any seminar or trade/industry association meeting worth its name , the speakers start talking about slowdowns and dip in GDP immediately after the official prayer song is sung and finished!
How many of us really understand what GDP is and how it is calculated with lot of guesstimates,punctuations ,surmises etc.only to include goods,services that are counted and calculated as defined by the National Income Accounting methodologies. GDP in simple terms is equal to the sum of Consumption + investment+ Govt spending+(Exports-Imports).GDP does not include many good things and bad things.In Indian context Parenting, bringing up children by our mothers on their own, taking care of the aged without engaging a care taker, Volunteer work -preserving the nature and resources, the value of culture and the value of resources not being exploited etc are outside the purview of GDP calc. Somebody said if all the fish in our seas and rivers are caught in a year and sold it will boost the country's GDP but the fishing industry will collapse after that!
There is also another flip side -it does not include our shadow economy and its illegal and underground manifestations. Hope only Terroristans and banana republics should worry about this. Certainly (or is it hopefully), we are not one among them.
Nowadays people are talking about Genuine Progress Indicators and Sustainable Economic Development Assessments apart from Human Development Index, Corruption Index, Hunger index,Happiness index etc.
So let us contemplate for a minute whether a GDP number without our mothers' immeasurable contribution is truly indicative of our Country's value and progress!
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