Indian State Achieves Western Standards on Fraction of Income

The state of Kerala in southwest India is a socio-economic abberation: despite a per capita GDP of US$247, far below the world average, its 32 million people enjoy good health care, US-level birth rates, literacy rates and life expectancies. Today its economy is hurting as its foreign remittances dwindle – Kerala is known for providing much of the now shrinking Middle Eastern migrant workforce. Though the state suffers from chronic (but decreasing) unemployment, the “Kerala model” breaks the stereotype of the third world, with lessons for the First World. Full Story : TreeHugger.com….