Klaxon: this week sees the publication of National Wealth: What is Missing, Why It Matters, edited by Kirk Hamilton and Cameron Hepburn. The book is a collection based on the Wealth Project, itself a follow up to work by the World Bank on measurement for sustainability. As sustainability inevitably involves thinking about the future, there is a need to measure an economy’s stocks of different kinds of capital assets rather than current income or consumption flows (which is what our GDP lens does).
I have a chapter in the book about the political economy of moving to a new framework of economic indicators from the current system of national accounts. This is a shift analogous to changing a global technical standard, in which enough key participants have to make the move to tip everyone else into following suit. I conclude, though, that for this to come about there has to be enough consensus about what new standard to move to, which is still a work in progress. There’s a proliferation of dashboards and alternative indices. We need just one framework to get the shift.
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“One framework” is a noble idea, but if it were to happen there is a better chance of it being the wrong one, given our present politicians and “experts”, than a right one. It is probable to be one they happen to like, perhaps because it can be sold more easily to whoever they have to keep happy. After a few years of limited events and being told that hurricanes were to become rare by experts we now have three on the go with untold economic and financial consequences.
Dear Ma’am,
I read your blog regularly. This blog post is one of my interests. Thanks for introducing to The Wealth Project.
I request your little guidance please.
Dear Ma’am,
Greetings from India.
I know that it is random and is baseless to post for help here. However, I was browsing through your blog, your interview for The Freethink Tank, where you had motivated to pursue what one loves and that to never give up.
I’m highly interested in doing a research in this field of PPE / Developmental Economics. However, my educational qualification is Engg and MBA with 6 years of work experience in a Fortune 500 company. Can you please guide me, whether I could pursue a research in the above interest field with my educational background?
I have registered to CORE project and study economics regularly. I also plan to attend the Festival of Economics 2017, do you think there will be a value addition for me in attending this. Can you suggest me any kind of guidance.
Looking forward for your help ma’am.
Thank you