XPost: can.politics, can.general, soc.culture.canada   
   XPost: can.atlantic.general, soc.culture.quebec   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   On 02/03/2014 3:42 PM, ConɀƦConɀ wrote:   
   > On 2/28/2014 7:31 AM, none  aka  Greg Carr  wrote:   
   >> Canada's economy expands at 2.9% pace, beating forecasts.   
   >>   
   >> Fourth quarter of 2013 ended on a down note, but economic growth strong   
   >> overall.   
   >>   
   >> Feb 28, 2014   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > Measuring progress with GDP is a gross mistake   
   >   
   > Governments, media and much of the public are preoccupied with the   
   > economy. That means demands such as those for recognition of First   
   > Nations treaty rights and environmental protection are often seen as   
   > impediments to the goal of maintaining economic growth. The gross   
   > domestic product has become a sacred indicator of well-being. Ask   
   > corporate CEOs and politicians how they did last year and they’ll refer   
   > to the rise or fall of the GDP.   
   >   
   > It’s a strange way to measure either economic or social well-being. The   
   > GDP was developed as a way to estimate economic activity by measuring   
   > the value of all transactions for goods and services. But even Simon   
   > Kuznets, an American economist and pioneer of national income   
   > measurement, warned in 1934 that such measurements say little about “the   
   > welfare of a nation.” He understood there’s more to life than the   
   > benefits that come from spending money.   
   >   
   > My wife’s parents have shared our home for 35 years. If we had put them   
   > in a care home, the GDP would have grown. In caring for them ourselves   
   > we didn’t contribute as much. When my wife left her teaching job at   
   > Harvard University to be a full-time volunteer for the David Suzuki   
   > Foundation, her GDP contribution fell. Each time we repair and reuse   
   > something considered disposable we fail to contribute to the GDP.   
   >   
   > To illustrate the GDP’s limitations as an indicator of well-being,   
   > suppose a fire breaks out at the Darlington nuclear facility near   
   > Toronto and issues a cloud of radioactivity that blows over the city,   
   > causing hundreds of cases of radiation sickness. All the ambulances,   
   > doctors, medicines and hospital beds will jack up the GDP. And if people   
   > die, funeral services, hearses, flowers, gravediggers and lawyers will   
   > stimulate GDP growth. In the end, cleaning up the Darlington mess would   
   > cost billions and produce a spike in the GDP.   
   >   
   > Extreme weather-related events, such as flooding and storms, can also   
   > contribute to increases in GDP, as resources are brought in to deal with   
   > the mess. Damage done by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and the BP oil   
   > spill in the Gulf of Mexico added tens of billions to the GDP. If GDP   
   > growth is our highest aspiration, we should be praying for more weather   
   > catastrophes and oil spills.   
   >   
   > The GDP replaced gross national product, which was similar but included   
   > international expenditures. In a 1968 speech at the University of   
   > Kansas, Robert Kennedy said, “Too much and for too long, we seemed to   
   > have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere   
   > accumulation of material things …Gross national product counts air   
   > pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our   
   > highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails   
   > for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood   
   > and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm   
   > and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the   
   > riots in our cities ... and the television programs which glorify   
   > violence in order to sell toys to our children.   
   >   
   > “Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our   
   > children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It   
   > does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our   
   > marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our   
   > public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither   
   > our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to   
   > our country. It measures everything in short, except that which makes   
   > life worthwhile.”   
   >   
   > We deserve better indicators of societal well-being that extend beyond   
   > mere economic growth. Many economists and social scientists are   
   > proposing such indicators. Some argue we need a “genuine progress   
   > indicator”, which would include environmental and social factors as well   
   > as economic wealth. A number of groups, including Friends of the Earth,   
   > have suggested an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, which would   
   > take into account “income inequality, environmental damage, and   
   > depletion of environmental assets.” The Kingdom of Bhutan has suggested   
   > measuring gross national happiness.   
   >   
   > Whatever we come up with, it has to be better than GDP with its absurd   
   > emphasis on endless growth on a finite planet.   
   >   
   > By David Suzuki   
   I guess when the next earthquake hits Fukishima and the west coast has   
   to be evacuated that will increase GDP.   
      
   --   
   *Read and obey the Bible*   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)