Will you be equally happy to live in either of these countries? Are both equallyndeveloped? Perhaps some of us may like to live in country B if we are assured of being its fifth citizen but if it is a lottery that decides our citizenship number then perhaps most of us will prefer to live in country A. Though both the countries have identical average income, country A is preferred because it has more equitable distribution. In this country, people are neither very rich nor extremely poor, while most citizens in country B are poor and one person is extremely rich. Hence, while average income is useful for comparison, it does not tell us how this income is distributed among people.

Income and other criteria

When we looked at individual aspirations and goals, we found that people not only think of better income but also have goals such as security, respect of others, equal treatment, freedom etc. Similarly, when we think of a nation or a region, we may think of other equally important attributes besides average income.