I wish referring to GDP and GDP per capita becomes a career-ending mistake in statistics.
Numbers going up is completely meaningless if everyone’s quality of life is going down. And the average person’s purchasing power in Spain has gone down in the last few years.A better one would be measuring general wellbeing;
- Corruption Perceptions Index
- Literacy rate
- Life expectancy
- Economic equity
There are more obviously, like the following, but it’s a good start;
- Clean water, soil, and air
- Access to free healthcare for all
- Access to free education for all
- Bicycling infrastructure as % of infrastructure
- Access to affordable, decent-sized and quality housing for all
- Freedom of speech (eg workplace democracy, proportional representation, unionisation), and freedom from discrimination and stigmatisation
Every economist’s academic defense should require them to read their papers aloud while walking in between two rows of real scientists with amped up cattle prods; physicists, ecologists, systems theorists, mathematicians, chemists, biologists etc…
Every time you say something stupid you get zapped. Those granted degrees are those who survive the ordeal.
If you’re unfamiliar with the process, this should inspire sufficiently.
William Nordhause:
“Three degrees of warming will reduce GDP by 2.1%”
“Aaaaarrrrgh!”
“We can mitigate economic damage of higher warming by moving economic activity indoors into air conditioned spaces for 5% of GDP.”
“Aaaaaaaaaargh!”
“There are no limits to growth on a finite planet!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!”
