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Measuring the Quality of Life in the U.S.: Political Reflections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2009

Lawrence M. Mead
Affiliation:
New York University

Extract

The economist Amartya Sen has said that world development ought to focus on the capabilities that people achieve, and not simply on aggregate economic indicators. In that spirit, the United Nations since 1990 has published several Human Development (HD) reports that assess nations in terms of health and education conditions, as well as income or wealth. Many countries have assessed their own HD. In The Measure of America, Sarah Burd-Sharps, Kristen Lewis, and Eduardo Borges Martins apply this approach to the United States. They describe variation in health, education, and income conditions across American states, congressional districts, and social groups.

Type
Review Symposium: Measuring the Quality of Life in the U.S.: Political Reflections
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2009

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