Gross Domestic Product (GDP): A Meaningful Measure of Well Being?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Calculation

(courtesy of Wikipedia)

 

GDP was first developed by Simon Kuznets for a US Congress report in 1934. After the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, GDP became the main tool for measuring a country’s economic performance and has become a number much loved by governments and the media to summarise ‘how we are doing’.

The generally favoured formula in investment and economic media is

GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports), or

GDP = C + I + G + (X – M)

But does it tell us anything meaningful about the well-being of a country’s economy?

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