Estimates of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Oregon from 1960–2010 and recommendations for a comprehensive shareholder's report
2015
Kubiszewski, Ida | Costanza, Robert | Gorko, Nicole E. | Weisdorf, Michael A. | Carnes, Austin W. | Collins, Cathrine E. | Franco, Carol | Gehres, Lillian R. | Knobloch, Jenna M. | Matson, Gayle E. | Schoepfer, Joan D.
The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is a significantly more comprehensive approach to assessing economic progress than conventional measures, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We estimated the GPI for the state of Oregon from 1960–2010. We found that it tracked the Gross State Product (GSP) for the period 1970–2000, but began to diverge and flatten out in 2000. The major reasons for this divergence were increasing inequality, loss of farmland, and decreasing personal consumption expenditures as a fraction of GSP. Oregon GPI/per capita leveled off in 2000, while the US GPI/capita leveled off in 1975. The GPI is not the perfect indicator of economic and social well-being, but it is a better approximation than GDP. As more states and countries begin to recognize the inappropriateness of GDP as a policy goal we can expect to see much more emphasis on and use of alternative indicators like GPI. We recommend extending these indicators to include a comprehensive shareholder's report that reflects all the state's capital assets, including built, human, social, and natural capital.
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