The so called Stiglitz-Fitoussi-Report has been published with the intention to measure the ‘well-being’ alongside economic growth.

In February 2009, President Sarkozy of France asked Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz — a former White House advisor and World Bank chief economist — and 21 other highly reputated international experts to find new ways to measure growth taking into account social well-being.

‘There’s no single number that can capture anything as complex as our society,’ Stiglitz told the French Press in an interview when the report was published in 2nd half of 2009. ‘So what we argue for is the need for an array of carefully-chosen numbers, with a better understanding of the role of each of those numbers.’

Currently, growth is measured as a percentage increase or decrease in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is a measure of the value of goods and services generated in a country and has long been seen by many as a crude benchmark. As an example of how GDP could be misleading as a quality of life index, the report said an increase in fuel consumption would boost growth figures even if it only reflected more unproductive traffic jams and pollution.

‘GDP was originally created as a measure of economic activity but has increasingly become used as a measure of societal well-being. It wasn’t designed for that and it doesn’t measure that,’ Stiglitz said.

The following sequence of reflects the discussion amongst members of The New Club of Paris as follows. Kindly follow this link Stiglitz discussion (PDF file) to read the entire discussion.