The goal of this essay is to defend a metric (a way of measuring) quality of life. Your essay should have the following structure:
1) Introductory paragraph summarizing the view you intend to defend
2) A critical discussion each of the three metrics: GDP per capita, the Human Development Index, and Happiness
3) A defense of your chosen metric drawing on your discussion
4) A conclusion summarizing your findings
For this essay, you should include discussion of the following questions.
1) What is GDP per capita?
2) What are some of the drawbacks of measuring wellbeing in a country using GDP per capita?
3) In what respects is the Human Development Index an improvement on GDP per capita as a measure?
4) What shortcomings do you see with the Human Development Index?
5) Can happiness be measured? How do researchers typically try to measure it?
6) What are some of the drawbacks of measuring happiness?