Barkley Rosser, You know that in China the living standards of the poor haven't been raised. There are still a lot of people suffering from cold and hunger. They can't afford to send their children to school, and, as a result, too many children are deprived of education. I really sympathize with poor people in their sufferings. I hate bitterly bourgeois economists who use GDP to hoodwink poor people. Sincerely, Ju-chang He E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SHENZHEN, P.R. CHINA Welcome to My Homepage <http://sites.netscape.net/juchang/homepage.html> -----Original Message----- From: J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 3:25 AM Subject: [PEN-L:11766] Re: GDP is unscientific and unfair for poor people. >J.-C., > You live in what is by far the highest income >part of the PRC, except for recently acquired Hong >Kong to which Shenzhen is adjacent. How do I know >that? Because it has a much higher per capita >income than in the rest of the PRC, which is equal >to per capita GDP (or gross regional product). I know >that Shenzhen has a lot of inequality, and thus probably >a lot of poverty. But does it have more than the rest of >the PRC? > Are living standards higher or lower in Shenzhen than >in the rest of the PRC for the average citizen? If they are >higher, then that is evidence that it is perfectly reasonable >for, not just most countries, but all countries to keep track >of GDP. Of course I fully agree that all countries should keep >track of such things as poverty rates, Gini coefficients and >physical measures of the standard of living as well. > You continue to be simply off base with your claim that >"GDP is unscientific because it does not help poor people." >Barkley Rosser
