National progress measures show a mixed report card
We often hear about Gross Domestic Product or GDP, which measures the value of all the stuff and services that a country produces. That figure is often used as the most important measure of national progress. But have you ever wondered what we’d find if we tried to come up with a measure of national progress that also included considerations of social cohesion, democracy and sustainability?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has been doing just that for the last decade. They’ve just released their latest measures of Australian progress, and it’s a mixed report card.We’re getting wealthier and healthier but also less productive and in some ways more destructive. Our carbon emissions are increasing, and the biodiversity of our ecosystems is going downhill.