Beyond GDP: With guests Justin Van Wyk and Robert Costanza
Description
How do we measure the wellbeing of a society? Is Gross Domestic Product (GDP) an appropriate indicator of both economic progress and wellbeing? GDP is based on a liberal theory of progress which equates economic growth to progress and wellbeing. However, researchers have found that the link between economic growth and wellbeing isn’t as strong as we would like to think. Yet, governments use GDP as a primary indicator for decision making and economic planning. This ‘addiction’ to GDP has led to policies that favour increased economic production without consideration of the effects on society or the environment. In this episode with Justin Van Wyk (UCL MSc PIE alumnus) and Robert Costanza (Professor of Ecological Economics at UCL Institute for Global Prosperity), we discuss the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), one of several alternative measures to GDP which takes into consideration the impact of economic activity on social wellbeing.