DISVELOPMENT

Another View:'Disvelopment' now engulfing the USA

American economic and educational systems showing steady decline in recent decades

If better living conditions for the citizens of a nation are a result of positive economic activity and this is called development, then a decline in living conditions caused by negative economic activity ought to be called "disvelopment." The United States is now in a disvelopment phase.

Probably the best measurement of this is found in the Human Development Index compiled by the United Nations. Using widely accepted factors such as "life expectancy at birth," "adult literacy," "school enrollment" and "GDP per capita" from numerous well-recognized sources, it places countries in three major development categories: High Human Development, Medium Human Development and Low Human Development.

One could assume that countries classified as "highly developed" would remain in that category and, generally, they do. More changes might be expected in the "medium" and "low" categories as so-called third-world countries move from Low to Medium.

However, the rank within these categories does change as some develop faster than others while some actually decline.

But what do we say then when a country's ranking within its group is declining. I find the word "disveloping" to be appropriate.

For example, in 1990 the United States ranked second only to Canada in the High Human Development Index. By 1995, it ranked fourth, following Canada, Norway and Australia. By 2000, it ranked seventh and, by 2005 (the last year for which official figures are available), it ranked 12th. Some current observations would indicate that this trend is continuing.

Rising productivity is often mentioned as critically important to development. One factor contributing to increased productivity is a reliable infrastructure. Adequate airports, roads and ports are often cited as critical needs for developing third world-countries. How is the United States doing?

In the 1970s, public investment in transportation generated a return of almost 20 percent, mostly in the form of higher productivity. By the 1980's public expenditures on transportation was so small relative to the need that there was only a 5 percent return, and by the 1990's the small amount spent compared to the need resulted in only 1 percent gain. By 2005, the annual cost of congestion alone, including added freight cost as well as lost productivity for commuters, had reached $78 billion.

Adequate health care is another important socio/economic factor contributing to rising productivity for developing nations. From 2000 to 2006, the number of U.S. citizens who lacked health insurance rose by 9 million, 80 percent of whom were native or naturalized citizens. There are now 47 million who lack coverage out a population of just over 300 million, or more than 15 percent of the population. Although the United States spends more per capita on health care than any other developed country, it now ranks 37th (out of 191 developed countries) in the quality of its health care, according to the World Health Organization.

A modern education system is also cited as a major factor in helping a country to develop. Has the U.S. system continued to develop? Not according to Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, who says, "We've squeezed everything we can out of a system that was designed a century ago."

A recent advertisement by Intel stated, "Technology is built on Math, Science & Engineering." How has the United States been doing?

America's high-tech industries seem to be powered by foreign brains. Comparing 1990-91 to 2002-04, the United States annually increased its graduates in science and engineering by about 75,000 - from 345,000 in 1990-91 to 420,000 in 2002-04, an increase of about 22 percent.

Sounds good, but by 2002-04, China was graduating around 520,000 science and engineering students (from a 1990-91 base of 190,000) and India 695,000 annually (also from a 1990-91 base of around 190,000). And about 40 percent of people currently earning Ph.D. degrees in computing science and engineering from U.S. universities are foreign-born.

A large and/or growing national debt is also cited as a negative factor for development. In 2002, the formal cash-based U.S. deficit was $157.8 billion. By 2005, this was $318.5 billion. Under the GAAP method of accounting (mandatory for most large U.S. corporations) the total federal obligation shows an increase from $32.7 trillion in 2002 to $50.9 trillion in 2005.

Pick virtually any development criterion and you will find this slide toward Third-World status ... indeed, disvelopment.

Dean is a Harlingen resident with roots in Nebraska.