8.1B - Best Development Goals
Improvements in environmental quality, health, life expectancy and human rights are seen by some (Rosling) as more significant goals for development whilst economic growth is often the best means for achieving them.
See 8.1A for more on this.
Hans Rosling (1948-2017) was a Swedish physician, academic, statistician, and public speaker. He felt that future goals should be to improve environmental quality, health and life expectancy of the poorest and human rights -> and that economic growth was the most important way of achieving this.
However, he argued that human rights (especially property rights) are essential to economic growth, and that these cannot exist without a good, stable government. He stressed the crucial role health plays in human development, arguing that improving health. life expectancy and environmental quality often unlocks people's economic potential.
Economic growth is needed to built infrastructure, raise incomes to pay for medicine and education and develop journalism for human development to increase.
Both the Indian subsidy system and the radical tax redistribution of Evo Morales are seen by some as discouraging economic growth. This is because subsidies undercut some prices, and very high taxes discourage investment by TNCs. -> there is a general consensus that economic growth is important if human development is to increase in the long term.