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clock graphic Cosmopolitans vs Locals The Real Wealth of Nations Factor 10 Ecological Debt Biological Complexity

LitScan

Additional readings on GNP, GDP, and the mismeasure of wealth

Anderson, Victor Alternative economic indicators
London: Routledge, 1991. 106 p.
Holds that it is time to move beyond economic growth as the primary economic policy objective of government and GNP and GDP as its principal indicators. The author argues instead for a small number of specific priority indicators which cover people and their well-being, the environment and natural resources. An easy-to-understand and thorough discussion of the debate.
Cobb, Clifford W. and John B. Cobb, Jr. The green national product: a proposed index of sustainable economic welfare
 Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc., 1994. 343 p.
Develops the idea of a Green National Product to replace the Gross National Product. Advocates the use of an Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) which includes several categories not recognized by GNP.
Dieren, Wouter van (ed) Taking nature into account : a report to the Club of Rome
New York: Copernicus (Springer Verlag), 1995. 332 p.
Reviews existing methodologies and makes recommendations for adjusting the way we think about and measure economic progress.
Repetto, Robert Earth in the balance sheet: incorporating natural resources in national income accounts
Environment (September 1992) : 13-45 pp.
A good introduction to GDP and the System of National Accounts, their shortcomings, and natural resource accounting in OECD countries. Followed by a comprehensive case study of the benefits of incorporating depreciation of natural resources into national income accounts in Costa Rica.
Ismail Serageldin and John O'Connor Monitoring environmental progress
Washington, DC: World Bank, October, 1995. 82 p.
A larger treatment of the recent World Bank work on redefining the wealth of nations. Does not include the new country rankings everyone is buzzing about (for those, see In Depth in DI #1).
UN Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis Integrated environmental and economic accounting
Interim version. New York, NY: United Nations, 1993. 182 p.
A handbook which develops a synthesis of the different approaches used in the fields of natural resource and environmental accounting. Does not replace the longstanding economic System of National Accounts (SNA), but incorporates it into a more comprehensive data system. A technical and comprehensive treatment of the subject.