How is economic progress measured today?

The most commonly-used measure of economic progress world-wide is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is simply the total monetary value of all the goods and services that are exchanged within a country in a year.

But we know that economic growth is not always good; often an increased GDP means money has been spent to clean up an environmental catastrophe or to build more prisons or to process and consume depleted natural resources. The GDP also does not count some of our greatest sources of wealth such as volunteering, community safety or clean air and water.

What is the Genuine Progress Index?

The Genuine Progress Index (GPI) is a more reliable measurement of whether a country or community’s production of goods and services has contributed to the well-being of citizens and to the sustainability of the planet. The GPI counts beneficial activities as positive and damaging activities as negative; the GPI looks at myriad factors such the amount of productive farmland, the value of unpaid work and even the level of personal happiness.

The GPI provides a far more accurate guide for citizens and policy-makers alike; it helps us to evaluate our activities and change our behaviour accordingly.

The series was made possible by a grant from Coast Capital Savings.