How do you determine the stage of development in a country?

I have been pondering this issue since we arrived and are trying to equate the level of development with other countries that I know or have visited.

Brazil has a substantial road system, albeit with a lot of toll roads, and an excellent bus and airline system well suited to such a vast country with a population of 200 million or so.

The traditional thinking is “the developed world” and “the developing, or third world”. Not sure who coined the phrases “developing world” or “third world” but the names have stuck.

It is patently unfair to judge a country like Brazil as a developing country in the traditional sense because of the level of development. I am not sure but I believe that Brazil has safe drinking water from the faucet in all major cities, and universal health care that is run by each state, and a federal pension system. Brazil held their first fully electronic election in 2006. Imagine that even the people in the most remote regions of Amazonas were able to cast their votes, and have them counted electronically. No hanging chads and embarrassment on a global scale like we suffered in the 2000 election.

I have not been to Argentina or Chile but I suspect that you might find similar levels of development. Another possibility is South Africa.

Brazil like many countries has a significant number of poor people and are working to improve that situation, but to classify Brazil along with Nigeria, Zambia or almost anywhere in Africa that are considered “developing countries” would in my mind be absurd. Maybe the split between developed and developing countries is whether they give foreign aid or receive it. I do not know in Brazil’s case but they would certainly appear to be closer to being a donor and certainly do not receive any aid, or need it.

There is a significant middle class who live in very nice homes, even if that is deceptive from the street, and there are lots of private schools for those who choose and reasonable public schools with similar problems to those in the US (poorly paid teachers, inconsistent quality of teaching and a general lack of facilities) All school kids have to supply their own notebooks and pens and pencils, and these are expensive in the stores. There is also corruption and people who misuse their political positions for personal gain, but the level does not seem to be any worse than the US and many other places. It is possible that it is just more blatant.

I solicit your comments or ideas