The Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz once famously commented: "What you measure affects what you do"; while highlighting the limited efficacy of GDP as a measure of the overall prosperity of a nation.
Bhutan became the unlikely pioneer of the global drive to establishing more comprehensive benchmarks for measuring national prosperity, when in 1972 that country launched its Gross National Happiness Index.
Since that time, many other countries have also been realigning their socio-economic development plans, accommodating a broader definition of national prosperity to include the availability of healthcare and education services, life expectancies, poverty and employment rates, etc.
The Legatum Prosperity Index, launched in 2006 releases an annual ranking of countries based on eight sub-indices; economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, health, education, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital.
The rankings have gained global prominence as a comprehensive measure of the overall impact of government policies on the lives of citizens. This years rankings draw attention to some surprising global and regional trends.
Foremost, although the United States is still the worlds leading economy in terms of GDP, according to the survey, "the US does not rank among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of overall prosperity".
Whats more; "The United States (of America) is a nation in decline", states the Legatum Prosperity Index 2012.
For Pakistanis, the survey reaffirms much that is already dreaded regarding the overall conditions of the state and its inhabitants. The country ranks at a dismal 132nd place out of 144 countries covered by the survey.
To offer context to this ranking, it should be noted that the only countries to rank lower than Pakistan are Ethiopia, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Togo, Burundi, Haiti, Chad, Afghanistan, Congo and Central African Republic.
It comes as little surprise, that among the sub-indices, Pakistan performed worse in terms of safety (rank: 139) and social capital (137).
The countrys best standing appears in the entrepreneurship and opportunity sub-index where it ranked in 103rd place. It may be noted here that India ranked in 99th place in the same sub-index, while Bangladesh and Afghanistan stood at 104th and 121st place, respectively.
While Pakistan remains dogged by terrorism, poor governance and fragile law and order, other countries in Asia are shaking off the global economic slowdown to register marked improvements in their socio-economic conditions.
In the overall prosperity index, the Asian tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea) all rank among the top 30 nations. Similarly, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand have all posted significant improvements in their rankings on the Legatum Index in recent years.
These rankings are another stark reminder that improving the living conditions of Pakistanis necessitates an urgent redress of national priorities with primary focus on establishing the rule of law and the provision of healthcare, education and other basic amenities to the nation.
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Country Overall Entrepreneurship Economy Governance Education Health Safety Personal Social
Ranking & Opportunity & Security Freedom Capital
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Pakistan 132 115 103 115 121 112 139 132 137
India 101 57 99 49 100 104 114 67 138
Bangladesh 103 73 104 98 101 100 118 32 130
Afghanistan 140 130 121 141 139 131 140 135 127
Nepal 108 97 115 110 107 97 96 104 111
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Source: Legatum Institute
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