I believe that the HDI calculation can become a more accurate measure of human development if more data was used to compile the index. While GNI is included in the calculation, GDP could add to the data for a more complete picture. Tyler Cowen talks about the power of GDP in his interview with Erza Klein. He believes that it is a good measure for the overall state of the country, with the exception of environment. Though a separate measure for environment sustainability could be included, I think that it is a metric that should be used in already developed countries. Environment is an important issue in human lives; however, some countries are still trying to satisfy basic needs of food and water of its inhabitants. These are more urgent issues that unfortunately leave no space and funding for environmental issues. Therefore, for the specific instance of evaluating human development, GDP can be a useful metric. GDP looks at the production level of an economy and the total annual value of what is produced in the nation. It measures an economy’s size and growth rate, which can be an important indicator of human development.
Likewise, I think the happiness index should be included in the calculation of the human development index. All factors, with the potential inclusion of GDP, are quantitatively assessing the mechanical processes of a country; they don’t directly include the human aspect. Human development encopasses many factors; however, people should still be at the center of attention. Most people around the world would like to live in good living conditions and be happy. Therefore, the inclusion of the happiness index will add the human component to the equation that no economy, education, or health metric can directly show on its own.