Alexander V. Avakov was born in the USSR in 1954. He has been interested in economic statistics since childhood. His formal university education was in mathematics and mathematical economics with additional studies in economics, philosophy, law, politics, anthropology, sociology and psychology.

As a result of early political maturity he was arrested in 1975 for distributing liberal-minded leaflets at the university. Sentenced to a year and half of hard labor, he was sent to a KGB-run camp for political prisoners. After completing the prison term, he emigrated from the Soviet Union and has since settled with his family in the United States.

Previously published books in Russian include, among others, Autobiography of the Soviet Anti-Soviet Philosopher, and Welcome to the New Security State. Mr. Avakov has published several books through Algora, including Plato’s Dream Realized: Surveillance and Citizen Rights, from KGB to FBI, and a series of statistical studies analyzing the relative power of nations in terms both economic and military, including undeclared nuclear weapons.

The foundations of power politics in the nuclear age, fundamental forces that drive events in the international news, and seldom-discussed factors that can shift whole economies, or trigger wars, may be discerned from the statistical tables...

The foundations of power politics in the nuclear age, fundamental forces that drive events in the international news, and seldom-discussed factors that can shift whole economies, or trigger wars, may be discerned from the statistical tables presented in this novel yearbook first issued in 2008.

This statistical annual presents fundamental data in three sections: (1) Quality of Life, (2) Balance of Power, and (3) Developed Market Economies since 1960.

It contains data that is generally not available elsewhere. Sections 1 and 2 give statistics for 230 countries. The World Bank and Encyclopedia Britannica provide statistical data for a maximum of about 160 countries. The actual number of countries in World Bank statistical tables is even smaller. The CIA World Factbook gives data for about 230 countries but that data is limited in scope and is imprecise. Other statistical publications are even less satisfactory. The author has managed to increase the number of countries tallied by writing proprietary software utilizing statistical regressions, selecting data which, first of all, is important and, second, which allows for high correlation coefficients for these regressions.

Section 2 includes data about nuclear delivery systems and the number of nuclear warheads of all nuclear powers. This is based on information from reputable sources. Among others, it includes estimates of the Israeli nuclear arsenal which usually do not appear in the press.

Official estimates of Russian military expenditures distributed by US and British intelligence communities are methodologically flawed. Such estimates claim to give a picture of military expenditures of the countries of the world at market exchange rates; at the same time, they apparently cite Russian military expense figures at purchasing power parities, thus inflating these numbers in comparison to those of other countries. Such deceptive practices of the Anglo-American intelligence services are counter-balanced by presenting two different tables, showing military expenditures estimates both at market exchange rates and by purchasing power parities.

Section 3 gives data on the topic of health care. It seems that public health expenditures as a share of total health expenditures has a stronger correlation with the comparative level (and the rates of improvement) of the main health care indicators than the absolute level (measured as a percent of GDP) of total health expenditures. The data demonstrates that the US has the lowest public health expenditure of developed market economies and is increasingly lagging behind other countries by main health care indicators.

The proposed introduction of national health insurance in the US would probably mean some sort of tax increase. The author therefore also seeks to shed light on modern ideological debates about the share of taxation in GDP and its influence on rates of growth. Surprisingly enough, the empirical data for the developed market economies do not seem to support the popular idea that low taxes are strongly correlated with higher rates of growth; depending on how the data are analyzed, the appropriate correlations are either low or even the reverse of what is commonly believed.

1. Quality of Life 5

Table 1.1 Gross National Income at Market Exchange Rates Per Capita, 2005 5

Table 1.2 Infant Mortality Rate per 1,000 Live Births, 2005 10

Table 1.3 Life Expectancy at Birth, 2005 15

Table 1.4 Gross Domestic Product at PPP Per Capita, 2005 20

Table 1.5 Economic Quality-of-Life Index, 2005 25

Table 1.6 Societal Integration Index, Degree of Openness in Political Process, 2005 30

Table 1.7 Civil and Political Rights Index, 2005 35

Table 1.8 Human Development Index, 2004 40

Table 1.9 Gini Coefficient of Income Inequality, 2005 45

Table 1.10 Human Rights Index, 2005 50

Table 1.11 Economico-Political Quality-of-Life Index, 2005 55

 

2. Balance of Power 61

Table 2.1 Population, Thousands, 2005 61

Table 2.2 GDP at Purchasing Power Parities, 2005 66

Table 2.3 GNI at Market Exchange Rates, 2005 71

Table 2.4 Armed Forces, Thousands, 2005 76

Table 2.5 Military Expenditures as Share of GDP, Percent, 2005 81

Table 2.6 Foreign Military Aid, 2005 86

Table 2.7 Military Expenditures at PPP, 2005 91

Table 2.8 Military Expenditures at Market Exchange Rates, 2005 96

Table 2.9 Operational Offensive Nuclear Delivery Systems, 2006 101

Table 2.10 Operational Nuclear Warheads, 2006, Strategic 106

Table 2.11 Operational Nuclear Warheads, 2006, Sub-Strategic 106

Table 2.12 Operational Nuclear Warheads, 2006, Total Strategic and Sub-Strategic 106

Table 2.13 States and Weapons of Mass Destruction, 2006 107

3. Developed Market Economies 109

TABLE 3.1 GNI PER CAPITA AT MARKET EXCHANGE RATE by Decade

TABLE 3.2 GDP PER CAPITA AT PPP OF DEVELOPED MARKET ECONOMIES 115

TABLE 3.3 INFANT MORTALITY OF DEVELOPED MARKET ECONOMIES 121

TABLE 3.4 LIFE EXPECTANCY, DEVELOPED MARKET ECONOMIES 128

TABLE 3.5 HEALTH EXPENDITURES OF YEAR 2004 135

TABLE 3.6 TAXES IN DEVELOPED MARKET ECONOMIES 137

4. Economic History, 1500–2005 143

TABLE 4.1 POPULATION, THOUSANDS Since 1500

TABLE 4.2 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT PURCHASING POWER PARITIES Since 1500

TABLE 4.3 GROSS NATIONAL INCOME AT MARKET EXCHANGE RATES Since 1500

TABLE 4.4 GDP AT PURCHASING POWER PARITIES PER CAPITA, Since 1500

TABLE 4.5 GNI AT MARKET EXCHANGE RATES PER CAPITA, Since 1500

TABLE 4.6 POPULATION GROWTH RATES 243

TABLE 4.7 GDP/GNI GROWTH RATES 261

TABLE 4.8 GDP/GNI PER CAPITA GROWTH RATES 279

APPENDIX: Methodology and Definitions

Selection of Indicators

Principal Component

The Economic Quality-of-Life Index

The Human Rights Index

The Economico-Political Quality-of-Life Index

Gross National Income at Market Exchange Rates

Infant Mortality

Life Expectancy

Gross Domestic Product at Purchasing Power Parities

The Societal Integration Index

The Civil and Political Rights Index

The Human Development Index

The Gini Coefficient of Income Inequality

Population

Armed Forces Personnel

Military Expenditures

Operational Offensive Nuclear Delivery Systems

Operational Nuclear Warheads

States Possessing, Pursuing or Capable of Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction

Developed Market Economies

The Scope of Data for Developed Market Economies

Total Health Expenditures

Public Health Expenditures

Taxes as Share of GDP

Growth Rates of Taxes as Share of GDP

Historical Data Since 1500

References