The Second Tier in the Developing World - Essay Example

There are people out there who believe that the best predictors and methods of measuring the quality of life and prosperity are environmental indicators. Others think power purchase parity is the most useful. While this latter measure does adjust relative prices in different economies, it is rather specific. As are environmental indicators. The BRICs are a diverse group of countries. The best way of measuring their success is also the bluntest: GNI per capita. This is a blunt tool and it is the most general.

For our purposes, there it is most useful as it takes into account all sectors of the economy and is not tripped up on specific aspects such as environmental factors. The human development index can provide information about how people are living, but if we want to know raw data on growth for comparative purposes—a must in economics—the GNI per capita will tell us this. It is the most useful index to generally compare these countries.