Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast
Insight and inspiration on making the right choices for people and planet. We feature bold conversations with global leaders and innovators from government, businesses, community advocacy, foundations, and more who are charting a path for inclusive growth and sustainability. Hosted by Michael Green, CEO at Social Progress Imperative, we explore how the world must move beyond GDP metrics and economic growth to truly improve the social and environmental wellbeing of communities. ©Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast is an essential listening for decision-makers ready to do things differently.
Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast
China, The Greatest Development Story Ever Told?
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In just three decades, China has transitioned from a developing nation to a global superpower, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty; however, is China’s development story an example for the rest of the world?
In this episode, we analyze China’s economic and social development from 1990–2020 using the Time Series Social Progress Index to measure China’s "efficiency" in turning wealth into wellbeing. We compare China's trajectory with India and Indonesia, nations that achieved significant social progress with only a fraction of China's GDP per capita.
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Time Series: https://www.socialprogress.org/social-progress-index-time-series
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In just a few short decades, China transformed itself from a moribund, backward communist countries to become a world superpower with gleaming infrastructure riding on a torrent of economic growth. It's one of the most amazing stories in human history. Hundreds of millions of people lifted out of poverty by this economic behemoth. China has accomplished what other developing countries have only dreamed of. But is the Chinese model one that should be replicated? This chart shows China's development from 1990 to 2020 and shows its starting point for GDP per capita and social progress, both of which are at one. And then we can compare how those two measures of development, economic growth and social progress, have changed over time. China's economic achievements obviously leap out. GDP per capita grows by more than a thousand percent from 1990 to 2020. By contrast, social progress in China increases by much less, by about 43%. Now that's not necessarily a problem. GDP and social progress are different things, and there's no reason they should increase at the same rate. But what if we then compare China to other developing countries? India, for example. India has made much more modest economic gains over the same period. Yeah, about 350% improvement, about a third of what China has achieved. But its social progress is achieved by almost the same amount, by 37%. Or more remarkably, look at Indonesia. Its economic progress was dented by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Hence its GDP per capita only increased by about 250% from 1990 to 2020. That's less than a quarter of what China achieved. But even with much lower economic growth, a much smaller economic engine, Indonesia has achieved a higher improvement in social progress by 55%. Now this isn't to disparage what China has achieved, but we have to say that its development model has been hugely inefficient in turning economic growth into real human progress. And if economic growth means more greenhouse gas emissions, it means that the Chinese model is a dangerous one for other countries to follow. Growth alone is not enough. We need to find growth that is inclusive and sustainable. And if we're looking for that, China may not be the model to replicate. All the data you've seen today is, of course, on the Social Progress Imperative website. Thank you for watching. Do like and subscribe and see you again soon.