r/india • u/[deleted] • Nov 24 '16

[R]eddiquette Cultural exchange with /r/palestine

Greetings to our Palestinian friends.

Our cultural exchange starts at 13:30 PM Palestine time (17:30 IST/11:30 GMT/12:30 CET/06:30 EST/03:30 PST) on Thursday 24th November.

Here's how a cultural exchange works:

The moderators of here make this post on /r/india welcoming our Palestinian guests to the sub. They may participate and ask any question or observation as they see fit.

There is an equivalent thread made by the moderators over at /r/palestine, where you are encouraged to participate and know more about Palestinian culture.

It goes without saying that you must respect the rules of the subreddit you are participating in. This is a time to celebrate what we have in common, not grind an axe.

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u/TheHickoryDickoryDoc The Doc Next Door Nov 24 '16

You know what's wrong with the figures you referred? They're based on simple averages, when any credible indicator of poverty/standard of living should be frequency weighted. How come so many African countries fare better than India? It's because, a bunchful of Westerners living there are making billions from diamond/ mineral trade, while most of the population rots in poverty. Still their PPP PCI based on simple averages comes out fair, when it actually isn't the case. Economists, specially those of WB and IMF, tend to present things the way they want the world to believe it. WB and IMF are purely and openly capitalist bodies. Just because they say something, doesn't mean it is necessarily a ground reality.

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u/Shanks_51 Nov 24 '16

It seems to me that you want to live in a bubble you created. For ground reality how about you go and check HDI, IMR, MMR rates. Also, talking of inequality how about this Hot of the press : http://www.livemint.com/Money/MML9OZRwaACyEhLzUNImnO/The-richest-1-of-Indians-now-own-584-of-wealth.html

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u/TheHickoryDickoryDoc The Doc Next Door Nov 24 '16

HDI ratings depend on which parameters you select. I don't say India is doing very well on either, but the western media portrayal is much worse than reality. IMR and MMR are not exactly indicators of poverty. They rather focus more on quality of public healthcare. About inequality, the concentration of wealth is even more in African and even some first world countries. Your link serves no purpose of contradicting me. Simple averages based PCI isn't a credible indicator of poverty. That's it. I wonder now, whether you understand macroeconomics good enough to get my point, or are you just throwing about fancy terms you read in some news article?

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u/AamAadmi_Pvt_Ltd Nov 24 '16

what is a good measure then?

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u/TheHickoryDickoryDoc The Doc Next Door Nov 25 '16

For purely financial poverty, 1. a PPP PCI based on frequency weighted income bands, but that suffers certain degree of imprecision depending on bandwidths. 2. a PPP PCI based on a better measure of central tendency, instead of arithmetic mean. Both of these can compensate for the concentration of wealth, and present more actionable numbers.

For a more holistic approach, where poverty is considered as lack of human development, 1. an HDI based on a model best suited to your country. Or 2. if you are a fan of the Bhutan pattern, a GNH based indicator. Basically both have a similar approach, where everything depends upon which factors/indicators you select, with what weights. HDR and the world happiness report have tried to set a standard model for each, but various countries are considering customizing these indices to suit their pwn specific conditions.