The Third Word and International Economic Structure 1976
Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen.
We are often told that riches are not synonymous with happiness; that life is more than economics. I do not disagree; nor do I challenge the statement that the Gross National Product of a country fails to indicate the quality of life there. But it is the well-off who can make such statements. To the starving, good and assured food is the quality of life. For a woman who now has to walk miles for water, a village tap might mean life itself.
The United Nations has estimated that in 1972 the per capita G.N.P. in Germany was in the region of $3,390; that of Tanzania was about $120. Taking the rich countries as a whole, the average per capita G.N.P. was $2,790 in 1970. For those classified as very poor, the average was the same figure as that given for Tanzania two years later 8120.