The most recent UN human development report will, for the first time, use a nation's inequality to adjust its overall human development index (HDI) score. The HDI score was originally designed to demonstrate that the GDP of a nation does not accurately reflect the prosperity and happiness of its citizens. The HDI incorporates multiple factors, including birth mortality rates, education, and GPI per capita.
The newest report also ranks nations after it factors inequality in the equation, effectively asserting that a economically stratified nation has many more barriers to reducing absolute poverty than a nation with evenly distributed wealth.
As a result, many Latin American nations are ranked lower in the adjusted-HDI index, while former Soviet Union bloc states move up. Interestingly enough, the United States moves down 9 spots, from #4 to #11.
-Corey Cox
SOURCE: The Guardian
