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@FishFace@piefed.social

2026-04-28 12:08 UTC

The simple answer is because, while it's not perfect, it's still quite useful, and easier to measure than something more subjective like wellbeing. Consider an analogous satire to yours: "If you're depressed, or demanding better conditions, you are 'harming' the country's wellbeing - you have reduced your wellbeing and are not granting wellbeing to anyone else by doing so. Why don't you lower your expectations and be happy with what you've got, why don't you avoid seeking treatment for depression so it's not recorded on the statistics!" All such metrics which aim to comprehensively summarise the state of something complex like an economy or population are subject to things they can't capture, and subject to perverse incentives. I think a good, honest attempt to make wellbeing a metric by which we judge the country is a fantastic idea, but a simplistic take on GDP - like yours, I'm afraid - is not why.

Replies (3)

  • @phutatorius@lemmy.zip 2026-04-30 14:12

    There's no reason that the measurements that go into a quality-of-life index are necessarily more subjective than those that feed into GDP. It'd be a very good idea to use measures that are hard numbers (life expectancy, infant mortality, days lost from work due to illness, levels of pollutants, etc), and even better, ones that are not easily gamed (say, NHS queue lengths, which have been manipulated in the past). But that's an issue with any choice of metrics. The relative weightings, on the other hand, depend on political priorities and values, so there will be some subjectivity in those.

    Open ##1842981

  • @brewery@feddit.uk 2026-04-28 17:17

    My take on it is not trying to be simple. It is showing one fundamental issue that would instantly change the entire calculation if reflected. The fact that it was not a diverse group of people from diverse background probably meant they missed something so fundamental. The analogy you used just doesnt work in my view. The fact that you're depressed would already lower an equivalent measure of wellbeing. The underlying point that you are depressed does not change whether you seek treatment or not. You're more likely to take sick days, more likely to have other health conditions, more likely to abuse drugs/alcohol, and other factors that could potentially be measured. Being depressed is not a choice but looking after your children or cleaning your own house is a choice. We should at least make an attempt to try. I agree it would be difficult bit then they were trying to come up with GDP, it would've seemed to be an impossible task but they managed to find a way. We should also make an attempt to fix the issues with GDP or stop using it as much as it is. Why is it ok to use this metric over any other?

    Open ##1842982

  • @frankPodmore@slrpnk.net 2026-04-28 14:24

    >The simple answer is because, while it’s not perfect, it’s still quite useful, and easier to measure than something more subjective like wellbeing. But it's so much easier to believe that GDP measures how evil the economy is and that politicians only care about the big evil yardstick due to their being evil.

    Open ##1842983