UN Pursues Alternative to GDP for Measuring Prosperity, But Consensus Remains Elusive
By
Lydia DePillis
2d ago· 2 min readenNews
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Summary
The article discusses the widely recognized shortcomings of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of human prosperity, noting that it fails to account for environmental degradation, health outcomes, or equitable wealth distribution. It highlights that the United Nations is developing a new framework to weigh economic gains alongside health and environmental progress, though achieving consensus on an alternative metric remains challenging.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledIt registers the harvest of a forest as timber income, for example, without recognizing the resulting erosion and water quality degradation.
It measures spending on hospitals, but not people's health.
An authoritarian regime might score well, even if it hoards wealth and its median citizen lives in poverty.
The United Nations has a new plan for weighing economic gains alongside health and environmental progress. But consensus is elusive.
