"As the thinking goes, growth of gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the goods and services produced in an economy every year is essential to a country’s stability and prosperity.
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But some economists are now challenging that view, arguing that it makes more sense to focus on measures of well-being other than growth.
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Spence and others who agree with him aren’t saying that the economy should stop growing or even shrink (though there is a group of people who do believe that). What they are arguing is instead that it may be more healthy economically to accept a slower growth rate, but still a positive one, while prioritizing policies that address things like inequality and access to services. This idea is, admittedly, somewhat utopian, but giving it serious consideration can illuminate the shortcomings of the current growth-first approach.
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It’s not just that maximizing growth doesn’t necessarily help people, but also that rapid growth can itself come at a cost, such as when the pursuit of growth is used to push through policies that are expected increase the GDP but may have negative consequences for millions.[Moi ici: Como não esquecer a orgia despesista de 2009?]
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Indeed, GDP measures activity in the economy, but there’s no way to know whether that activity is actually good for society. Merely sitting in traffic can cause GDP to go up, since people need to buy all that gas, but it has no societal benefit whatsoever, and additionally has negative consequences, such as pollution and frustration, that don’t show up in GDP at all. The BP oil-rig explosion, which killed 11, and the subsequent spill, which leaked 3 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, actually lifted GDP, analysts said, because of the amount of money spent cleaning it up.[Moi ici: A janela partida de Bastiat revisitada]
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“Economists decided a long time ago that they can’t explain growth,” he told me. “Lots of people thought they knew what causes growth, but nobody actually does.”"[Moi ici: Esqueceram-se de perguntar ao primeiro-ministro de Portugal]
Sabem porque é que a economia não cresce? Porque o Costa não tem ido todas as semanas dar apoio pic.twitter.com/PTjbjcSMqc— JoãoMiranda (@joaomiranda) November 5, 2016
Trechos retirados de "Does the Economy Really Need to Keep Growing Quite So Much?"
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