A nation is made of its people. Any evaluation of a country must include the condition of the people, either directly or indirectly. The achievements in business and economy of a nation are determined by the people’s participation in growth related activities. A happy people belong to a happily growing economy. Only when the commoners don’t have to struggle to achieve their basic economic needs, can they be expected to appreciate art and science. Revolutions in art or breakthroughs in science usually follow from a state of unrest or discontent among the people. The Renaissance, the industrial revolution and closer home, Liberalisation—they were all remedial measures which the people or the government were forced to adopt in order to fulfil the basic economic needs of the people. In such situations, men need to think out of the box and come up with novel ideas and expressions. On the other hand, periods of considerable economic satisfaction are rarely marked by upheavals in the artistic or scientific world. When there is no inertia or impulse behind a change, it won’t come about on its own. It is in the aftermath of this economic change that prosperity breeds flourishingly. Economic indicators to the same have been devised which incorporate various aspects of the people’s lifestyle and use them as indices to quantify the relative standing of the nation vis-a-vis other countries. Hence, the evaluation.
PS: following Abhishek Ahuja’s comment, the title has been kept in lower caps (mostly).
