ALTERNATIVES TO GDP TO MEASURE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROGRESS

Fernando Alcoforado*

The objective of this article is to demonstrate the need to abandon the calculation of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) that computes all the financial movements of a country or region whether or not they are beneficial to the population, a fact that imposes the need for their replacement by another economic indicator. This substitution is justified because it has been demonstrated that the rise of GDP in several countries shows no correlation with economic progress and the increase of the nation’s social welfare, quite the opposite. Until recently, there was a widespread belief that the world was getting better and better. An increasingly unstable global economy, the growing inequalities and pressing challenges of climate change have begun to destroy this belief.

Recent research shows that the majority of the population in the United States and Europe no longer believed that life was improving. One cause of these interconnected crises is the stubborn prioritization of economic growth as the central objective of government, overcoming all other goals. People vote for political parties that perceive themselves to be better able to provide a strong economy, and policymakers prioritize policies that increase GDP as a result. This led to a short-term outlook, deteriorating social conditions and paralysis over the actions needed to avoid climate change.

In fact, GDP growth alone does not mean a better life for all. It does not reflect inequalities in material conditions among people in a country. It does not properly value the things that really matter to people, such as social relationships, health, or how they spend their free time. And crucially, ever-increasing economic growth is incompatible with the planetary boundaries we face.

To read the article, access the website:

https://www.academia.edu/39944587/ALTERNATIVES_TO_GDP_TO_MEASURE_ECONOMIC_AND_SOCIAL_PROGRESS

* Fernando Alcoforado, 79, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic  planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017),  Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).