Partner Article

Is GDP the be-all and end-all?

GDP growth expectations for the latter half of 2012 were announced today, after a disappointing first six months that saw UK gross domestic product diminish by 0.3%.

This undercuts expectations from May that GDP would improve by 0.6%.

Despite these figures, CBI maintains that the rest of the year and 2013 will improve and the economy will recover. But should we be focusing on gross domestic product, and is it the be-all and end-all when measuring the health of the UK economy?

Could a focus on equity be a more productive measure of economic health? After all, walking to work would be bad for the economist’s consumer spending account, but good for the individual’s equity account.

Perhaps repositioning our concerns on other aspects such as social or environmental indicators would give a fuller and broader view of the genuine well being of the country’s economy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .