Amartya Sen #1

This is Sen at his most philosophical, and I think he is basically correct on this point, namely that there is more to the standard of living concept than at first meets the eye.

Corresponding lesson: http://mruniversity.com/amartya-sen-1

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on markets and is in indiana and then
cali economist born in nineteen thirty

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three and winner of a nobel prize in
economics senate such an important

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figure in development that he's going to
get several video units

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when sam was appointed to harvard
university he received a professorship

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not only in the economics department but
also in the fall off sophy department so

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we're going to start with sam uh...
velocity

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development economists are policy
advisers often find themselves in the

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position

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of having to address

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what really is a good outcome anyway

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typical standard of economics a store
identified a good outcome with greater

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welfare hired gdp_

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but send made the point that a country
can be wealthy but perhaps not everyone

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in that country is very happy

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or maybe people don't live very long

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or maybe they have lives which are by
some standard impoverished are lacking

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so send has been a consistent critic

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abusing welfare gdp_

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has a metric for a good outcome

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the second comment standard is to ask

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how happy are the people in the given
country or region

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but send makes the point that happiness
is an extremely subjective thing to

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judge it's very hard to say it was happy
and he was not

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finally some from lhasa for some
observers suggest what is called a basic

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needs standard

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for developing economy

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look at our region and ask do people in
that place have their basic needs

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satisfied

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but which exactly needs our basic in
which are not basic

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senate stressed the point

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that the basic needs standards it's
about what you send people and it's not

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really about what they can do with what
they've been sent

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so for all these reasons

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sent has rejected wealth happiness in
basic needs

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as the best standards for a good outcome

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what then

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send suggest the notion of capabilities

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capabilities as a positive option

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which or the choices that people have
which they are free to realize

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what are the things they can do what is
within their grasp

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what kind of lies to the i have

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what kind of possible to chief minsk and
they choose from

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this is sends a notion of what is a good
outcome when one outcome offers better

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capabilities to the citizens of the
region than another

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we can judge that to be the better
outcome

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percent capabilities is an absolute
concept about a relative concept

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it doesn't depend upon comparing the
options that one person to another

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and the notion of capabilities for sam

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that also respects human diverse city

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that is that notes that simply sending
people resources doesn't make their

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life's good

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the question is what can people do with
those resources

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so senate one point makes the example of
a bicycle

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if you send a bicycle to a person who is
disabled

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you haven't actually improve that
person's capabilities very much if the

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disabled person does not have the
capacity to ride a bicycle

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this is all very abstract in
philosophical what does that mean on a

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concrete level

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well people disagree

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but one thing is for sure send develop
these ideas in the nineteen eighties and

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they have had a big impact

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on the united nations human development
index

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the human development index doesn't only
look at wealth

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but it looks at life expectancy adult
literacy and school enrollment in

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judging how good an outcome is in
judging have developed a country inns

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sent himself stresses that he does not
have a

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particular exact list in mind for the
relevant capabilities

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from sense point-of-view it's really
something that an individual country or

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region needs to choose using a
democratic process

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but other people who have been
influenced by sent

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they've talked quite a bit about what
the capabilities should be

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some philosophers have suggested

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play imagination gender equality
autonomy

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freedom of speech

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all as being possibly important parts of
the capabilities concept

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where do we stand with this

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the critics say that sends an ocean of
capabilities and make some sense

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but it's very hard to operational eyes

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we do have one operational ization the
un development index

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it remains to be seen

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how much more useful we can make sense
notions of capabilities

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but when it comes to have that we judge
whether one outcome is better than

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another it does seem the idea of
capabilities has important advantages

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over

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happiness or basic needs