Alternative Economic Indicators

Growth is the principal long-term economic policy objective of most governments. Yet this growth is often pursued without regard to its wider influences, and the environmental and social costs can be high. Alternative Economic Indicators argues that factors other than growth determine the real health of the economy.

Victor Anderson criticizes the conventional Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product indices, and argues for an expanded conception of economics which gives attention to environmental and social indicators as well as financial ones. A selection of possible indicators is discussed, and a particular group is shown to be the best possible choice. Statistical data on the selected indicators for 14 countries is presented and analyzed, and conclusions are drawn about the issue of indicators and the state of the world.