XPost: can.politics, can.general, soc.culture.canada   
   XPost: can.atlantic.general, soc.culture.quebec   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   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   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)