Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare

The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is an economic indicator intended to replace the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the main macroeconomic indicator of System of National Accounts (SNA). Rather than simply adding together all expenditures like the GDP, consumer spending is balanced by such factors as income distribution and cost associated with pollution and other unsustainable costs. The calculation excludes defence expenditures and considers a wider range of harmful effects of economic growth. It is similar to the genuine progress indicator (GPI). The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) is roughly defined by the following formula: ISEW = personal consumption+ public non-defensive expenditures- private defensive expenditures+ capital formation+ services from domestic labour- costs of environmental degradation- depreciation of natural capital GDP is misleading as an indicator or even as a proxy of the welfare of a nation, let alone as a measure of people's well-being, although the makers of economic policy commonly think to the contrary. This problem already became apparent in practical economic policies in most industrialised countries in the early 1970s. The most famous examples of this development are the MEW index developed by William Nordhaus and James Tobin in their Measure of Economic Welfare (MEW) in 1972, the Japanese Net National Welfare (NNW) indicator in 1973, the Economic Aspects of Welfare index (EAW) index of Zolatas in 1981, the ISEW indicator of Daly and Cobb in 1989 and the UN's human development index (HDI) in 1990. They are all based on neoclassical welfare economics and use as the starting point the System of National Accounts (SNA). The basic idea behind all these approaches is the inclusion of nonmarket commodities, positive and negative, to yield an aggregated macroindicator in monetary terms. The EAW index, applied to the United States for the period from 1950 to 1977, showed that the economic aspects of social welfare are a diminishing function of economic growth in industrially mature, affluent societies.

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Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare

International development

International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country and least developed country, and for a field of practice and research that in various ways engages with international development processes. There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting the "development" of a country.

Genuine progress indicator

Genuine progress indicator (GPI) is a metric that has been suggested to replace, or supplement, gross domestic product (GDP). The GPI is designed to take fuller account of the well-being of a nation, only a part of which pertains to the size of the nation's economy, by incorporating environmental and social factors which are not measured by GDP. For instance, some models of GPI decrease in value when the poverty rate increases. The GPI separates the concept of societal progress from economic growth.

Alternatives to GDP: Part 1 HUM-471: Economic growth and sustainability I

Explores alternatives to GDP, emphasizing sustainable economic welfare and the genuine progress indicator.

Economic growth 4 - Alternatives to GDP HUM-471: Economic growth and sustainability I

Discusses alternatives to GDP, valuing environmental resources, HDI, life expectancy, and GPI.

Alternatives to GDP: Genuine Progress Indicator and Human Development Index HUM-471: Economic growth and sustainability I

Discusses the Genuine Progress Indicator and Human Development Index as alternatives to GDP.