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Beyond GDP and HDI: Shifting the focus from paradigms to politics

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Abstract

This article raises a simple question. In the debate between GDP and other indicators of well-being (e.g., MEW, HDI, GNH), it is forgotten that these are all external indicators that purport to privilege different goals as reflective of human welfare. The larger question is whether it is possible to shift the focus of policy from a battle between competing paradigms to a mechanism for eliciting information on well-being directly from the population.

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Notes

  1. ‘While the GDP and the rest of the national income accounts may seem to be arcane concepts, they are truly among the great inventions of the twentieth century’ (Samuelson and Nordhaus, 1999).

  2. This refers to the arcaded courtyard of Palazzo Spada, a 17th century masterpiece of optical illusion, in which diminishing rows of columns and a rising floor create the visual illusion of depth as well as height; an 8 meter long gallery appears to be five times as long, and a 2 foot sculpture at the end of the vista appears to be life size in daylight.

  3. Such articulated critics brought Kuznets to end in 1940 his relation with US Department of Commerce (1999) that had commissioned the studies which later on led to the GDP definition.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Giorgio Ruffolo for his precious contribution to the birth of this article that owes much to the discussions we had together and to his sharp insights. Naturally, all usual disclaimers apply.

Authors
  1. Salvatore Monni
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  2. Alessandro Spaventa
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Additional information

Proposals of alternatives often focus on outcome targets (health, education, nutrition), but in fact the process of political participation is far more important and meaningful

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Monni, S., Spaventa, A. Beyond GDP and HDI: Shifting the focus from paradigms to politics. Development 56, 227–231 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2013.30

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