I think some readers here may find this interesting:
As they say of their materials:
Ready-to-use and free guide for you to run this workshop in your own group and collective! To learn about the limitations of GDP as a measure of progress - and what are the good alternatives that can complement or replace it.
All the material is at hand and available for a 2 to 3 hours very interactive session, with 10 to 40 participants. With playful games and slides, it dives into: why GDP matters, but also all the reasons why it's lacking; its history; and some of the most promising alternatives to GDP that have surfaced in the last decades.
Just fill out the basic information here to receive the workshop materials by email.
At the very least, this could start a discussion.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
I was surprised to find that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have a web page
“New Beyond GDP measures for the UK: a workplan for measuring inclusive income”
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/articles/newbeyondgdpmeasuresfortheukaworkplanformeasuringinclusiveincome/2022-05-12
Obviously they are aware of the criticisms of GDP, but are they trying to capture an alternative that is equally bad.
An overview of some alternatives to GDP can be found at economicshelp.org
“Alternatives to GDP” (2021)
https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/167255/economics/alternatives-to-gdp/
Includes:
1 Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)
2 Index of Human Development (HDI)
3 Human Poverty Index (HPI)
4 Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH)
5 Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW)
6 Happy Planet Index – measure of environmental efficiency for supporting well-being
7 Green gross domestic product (green GDP or GGDP)
8 Median income – (average wages)
9 Well-Being index
Or perhaps we should just be measuring the wealth of the bottom 25%.
If they are doing OK, then so is everyone else.
Your last would certyainly be a key measure.
But not enough.
It’s why looking after the poor, disabled, the vulnerable is paramount in any kind of society that wishes for any kind of social justice as the norm.
A sizeable majority of people would prefer that to squandering money on wars, royals, tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations at any rate. Those who live in palaces and gated communities can look after themselves as we see every day, the state and majority need to focus on the well being of those who are struggling financially and the destitute and homeless.
Any one number Indicator must be about an aggregate. However, we/the people live in distributions.
Surely it is the least well off (distribution) in a society that defines its wellbeing.
Can I recommend the work of the Carnegie Institute on Wellbeing:
https://carnegieuk.org
Between them and Doughnut Economics there are plenty of measures that could be used, maybe alongside GDP, that would make up for its failings and give a far better indicator of wider progress.
I will always treasure that person who being interviewed said ‘that maybe your GDP but its not mine’, capturing how irrelevant it was to most peoples lives, though politicians cling to it like the proverbial drawing person to a brick
Carnegie has a lot to answer for right now, having delivered the On Line Safety Act with Tony Blair on the sidelines. I have always been circumspect about them and similar such bodies. I saw them, as I did Ford, Hewlett Packard and other such foundations, as agents to ensure neoliberalism did not have opponents by making the opponents depenendent. That is what happened with tax justice. There is an academic literature on this.