How to measure the standard of living of a country?

Phil Collins 'Another Day in Paradise'

Justin Timberlake 'Can't Stop the Feeling!'

This section is about measuring the standard of living of a country. Our first question is: what gives a country a higher or lower standard of living? If we are not measuring what is important to us, we will not be able to make the right decisions to create the world we want to live in.

We then go on to look at the concept of Gross National Product (GDP) that is often used in economics as a measure of the standard of living. What does GDP really measure? When should we use the concepts of real GDP, nominal GDP, GDP per capita, the GDP deflator and GDP growth?

Assignments for this topic:

In class, we discussed what it means for a country to offer a high standard of living to its citizens? Now, have a look at the different measures others have used (OECD's Better Life Index; Bhutan's Gross National Happiness, or the Human Development Index) . How would you change your initial list? Do add your comments to your first post.
GDP is often used by economists as a proxy for measuring the standard of living. The following videos explain how GDP is calculated and looks at different measures of GDP (nominal, real, growth rate, per capita and the deflator). Look at the videos on GDP and answer the short quizzes. Or read Mankiw and Taylor, 'Measuring a Nation's Income' (chapter 5). The content is the same as the videos and if you have the ebook, you can also listen to the chapter.
What are the advantages of using GDP? What are its limitations? (listen to Kennedy's speech)
Country Risk Report: Collect the data for your country and present it in graphs. Post the graphs on the board. You are welcome to add a written or recorded analysis. Check the guidelines in 'Useful Documents', Country Risk Report.