Amartya Sen on China vs. India

If the Cold War witnessed Space and Arms Races between the United States and the Soviet Union, our era is seeing a Growth Race between China and India. In The New York Review of Books, Amartya Sen asks the obvious question: Which country has the better quality of life? Where is life better?

The answer, of course, depends on what you value. India has built a democratic society, and its citizens enjoy tremendous civic freedoms; at the same time, the country is still struggling with tremendous economic inequality. In China, prosperity has been more widely shared, but political freedoms have been slow in coming. On the whole, though, life in China is better: life expectancy is longer, child mortality is lower, and the literacy rate is higher (94% in China, 74% in India). 97% of Chinese children have received immunizations against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus; in India, only 66% have received them. Democracy counts, of course, in a qualitative sense. But, Sen writes, "When we consider the impact of economic growth on people’s lives, comparisons favor China over India."

Moving forward, the two countries face very different challenges. In democratic India, the challenge is one of attention: Indians have to mobilize, and keep the political discussion focused on issues of inequality. In China, by contrast, the challenge has to do with accountability. Decisions are made from the top-down, and "there is little recourse or remedy when the government leaders alter their goals or suppress their failures." In both cases, it's important to look beyond broad measurements like Gross National Product. Growth has been important. In the coming decades, though, politics might be even more so.