Go to the Gapminder data site (founded by Hans Rosling). The x and y axes can be changed with the little arrows. The year can be changed with the slider at the bottom. You can even have the plot play through time. Each bubble represents a nation and can be selected and deselected in the right panel. There’s a two minute “How to” video at the top as well. Pick at least one configuration (life expectancy vs income in the UK and Cuba over the past 80 years, for example). Try any combination(s) you like (no wrong answers here). Write what data you are displaying. Write about what you see or what surprises you, if anything. As best you can, connect what you see to ideas in previous readings from Rosling, West, Sen, another course, or from your experience.

I chose to look at the life expectancy and income from both Madagascar (a developing country) and Switzerland (a developed country). Both countries are extremely different from one another because one is more industrialized than the other and both have different levels of per capita income and life expectancies of their citizens. I noticed that in 2018, Switzerland’s life expectancy was 84 years and its income per person was $68.4k. Switzerland, a developed country, ranked as one of the richest countries in Europe and has a stable economy, high wages, and relatively beneficial taxes which increase its income significantly. In terms of its life expectancy, Switzerland’s quality of life, such as work, leisure and family, balances its level, allowing the country’s citizens to have a high life expectancy.

In comparison, Madagascar has a much lower life expectancy of 65.5 years and per capita income of $1650. Madagascar, a developing country that relies greatly on farming and fishing, has been affected by climate change, causing the water levels to rise and leaving the country to suffer a great deal of poverty. According to the World Bank, Madagascar has one of the highest poverty rates in the world. On the other hand, developed countries, although they suffer from the effects of climate change, do not suffer as much as developing countries. This is because their economies are mostly rural and agricultural, with a large number of people working outside where climate change has a more direct impact (e.g., temperature rise, sea level rise, dryer or wetter climate, forest fires, drought conditions, crop failures).

The nature of developing countries’ economies also play a role in their citizens’ life expectancies. Most of the work is hard, physical labor, where both the very young and old work long hours in extreme conditions, oftentimes for very little pay. Consequently, workers in developing countries suffer from malnutrition, lack of healthcare and access to proper medication. These factors contribute directly to a person’s life expectancy. In a developed country’s economy, there is virtually no malnutrition and access to healthcare is widespread. In the case of Switzerland, healthcare is even free to the public as the government has a socialized system of medicine.

It surprises me to see how different countries can be in terms of life expectancy and that leads me to question what we can do in order to help the economy of a developing country both financially and socially. Amartya Sen states, “Development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy”, which we do by expanding social and political freedoms as we give access to basic resources. By helping developing countries, specifically the per capita incomes of those who are living there, I believe we can positively influence their life expectancies. For me, relating this to what Amartya Sen has said, focusing on improving per capita incomes and therefore a longer life would directly translate into greater freedom and more enjoyment.