How the level of income is important it is an in adequate measure to level of development justify the statement
Answers
A concept is always broader than any of its proposed measures. Any suggested measure for any concept cannot fully capture the richness, the breadth and the depth of the concept itself. This is true of the notion of human development as well. In principle human choices can be infinite and change over time.
In the context of the above, there are two types of measures for human development – breadth measures and focus measures. The breadth measures, which may be termed Human Development Accounting, encompass all indicators related to human development assessments and sometimes can be represented by a dashboard. The focus measures, which are basically composite indices, concentrate on some basic dimensions of human development.
Both types of measures have their respective values and limitations. Human Development Accounting is required to make a comprehensive assessment of human development conditions in any society, but it does not provide a single number to synthesize the state of affairs in some basic dimensions. Composite indices, on the other hand, provide a single number, but cannot provide a comprehensive picture of the state of human development in any situation. Focus measures are extremely good for advocacy, for initiating healthy competition among societies and for raising awareness, but not in providing a comprehensive picture. Breadth measures, on the other hand, are good for painting a comprehensive picture, but not for providing a single number for drawing attention.
It is in these perspectives that a composite measure like the Human Development Index (HDI) was constructed. Three things prompted the Human Development Report Office to come up with such a measure:
First, given that human choices are infinite, it was also recognized that at all levels of development, the three essential ones are for people to lead a long and healthy life, to acquire knowledge and to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living. If these essential choices are not available, many other opportunities remain inaccessible. The HDI captures these basic dimensions of human development.
Second, if only breadth measures of human development are presented, people will look respectfully at that dashboard, but then will revert to GDP per capita for a single measure of development. The HDI would change that outlook.
Third, for measuring human well-being, one needs as vulgar a measure as income per capita, but not as narrow a measure like income per capita which is blind to broader aspects of human lives. The HDI provides that broader measure.