Editing Genuine progress indicator (section)

==Motivations==

Some [[economist]]s{{Who|date=February 2025}} assess progress in an economy's [[welfare spending|welfare]] by comparing its gross domestic product over time — that is, by adding up the annual dollar value of all goods and services produced within a country over successive years. However, GDP was not intended to be used for such purpose.<ref name=":0" /> It is prone to [[productivism]] or [[consumerism]], over-valuing production and consumption of goods, and not reflecting improvement in human well-being. It also does not distinguish between money spent for new production and money spent to repair negative outcomes from previous expenditure. For example, it would treat as equivalent one million dollars spent to build new homes and one million dollars spent in aid relief to those whose homes have been destroyed, despite these expenditures arguably not representing the same kind of progress. This is relevant for example when considering the true costs of development that destroys wetlands and hence exacerbates flood damages. [[Simon Kuznets]], the inventor of the concept of GDP, noted in his first report to the [[United States Congress|US Congress]] in 1934:<blockquote>the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.<ref name=":0">Simon Kuznets, 1934. "[https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/national-income-1929-1932-971 National Income, 1929–1932"]. 73rd US Congress, 2d session, Senate document no. 124, page 7. access-date=13 February 2022</ref> </blockquote>

In 1962, he also wrote:

<blockquote>Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth, between costs and returns, and between the short and long run... Goals for more growth should specify more growth of what and for what.<ref>{{cite web|title=Beyond GDP: Measuring What Counts for Economic and Social Performance|url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/9789264307292-en/1/2/1/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/9789264307292-en&mimeType=text/html&_csp_=9f1c8dfc1a7bb52555bc12e8b8e03fd2&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book|website=OECD| date=27 November 2018 |publisher=Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development|access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref> </blockquote>

Some{{Who|date=June 2017}} have argued that an adequate measure must also take into account [[ecological yield]] and the ability of nature to provide [[ecosystem services|services]], and that these things are part of a more inclusive ideal of progress, which transcends the traditional focus on raw industrial production.