I agree 100% with Raphaels call for new metrics of economic development. GDP is fundamentally flawed as a societal-level measure of well-being, yet remains strongly entrenched as an economic indicator.
Yet its important to point out that this is not the case everywhere. The European Union is seriously considering the next-generation economic indicators that can serve as better guides to development, and recently held a major conference to kick off this discussion (http://www.beyond-gdp.eu/). French President Sarkozy recently made international news by calling for happiness to be included as a central economic indicator for the French economy. The Canadian Index of Well-Being (http://www.atkinsonfoundation.ca/ciw) is currently under development as a more holistic economic indicator for use in Canada. Regrettably there has been little discussion about this in the U.S. since Congress took up the issue for an extremely brief time in 1994. There are alternatives out there though - Redefining Progress' Genuine Progress Indicator (http://www.rprogress.org/) is one; the EU Beyond GDP site above has others. Professional society positions like the one proposed by ESA will help raise the profile of the problems of economic growth, but the need for new measures of economic progress should be part of the discussion. Regards, Ken Bagstad Ph.D. Candidate Gund Institute for Ecological Economics University of Vermont Burlington, VT 05405 ---------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:30:36 -0800 From: Raphael Mazor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: ESA and Economic Growth--a plea for better metrics My one contribution to this debate is that I would like ESA to encourage economists to use metrics of economic growth that aren't DIRECTLY in conflict with environmental sustainability. For example, the news this week was full of stories of economists in a tizzy because of the huge drop in the construction of new homes. But if economists define economic growth as housing starts, they define growth as suburban sprawl. Another example would be to measure economic growth as increases in carbon output, or trade volume. Other economic metrics do not conflate environmental degradation with economic growth (for example, unemployment statistics, or median income). Better metrics will allow us to mentally de-couple economic growth from environmental destruction. -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Raphael D. Mazor Freshwater Biologist Southern California Coastal Water Research Project www.sccwrp.org www.sccwrp.org/about/staff/mazor.htm SCCWRP 3535 Harbor Blvd. Suite 110 Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1437 Tel: (714) 755-3235 Fax: (714) 755-3299
