GDP, a Cautionary Note

Lester Hadsell ()
Additional contact information
Lester Hadsell: University at Albany, State University of New York, Department of Economics

Chapter 8 in Social Economies, 2026, pp 115-129 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Part II of Social Economics examines the goals of economic systems. The primary questions in Part II are: (1) What should we, as a society, hope to achieve in our economic interactions? and (2) How should our resources be directed to get the greatest benefit for society? Chapter 8 begins by observing that far too much focus today is placed on quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As a result, non-market work and marginalized workers tend to be undervalued. Though useful, GDP neglects many important elements of economic and social value, falling into categories of work-life balance (family), social ties (community), and the environment. GDP also does not account for the distribution of income and the impact of economic activity, positive and negative, on society and environment. Growth as measured by GDP is differentiated from development, which measures economic and social well-being more broadly. Alternatives to GDP are presented, including the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), among others.

Keywords: Gross domestic product (GDP); Human Development Index (HDI); Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI); Happy Planet Index (HPI); Gross National Happiness (GNH); Material standard of living productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-21916-9_8

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032219169

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-21916-9_8

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().