Goodbye GDP, Hello GDW (Well-being)?

Hosted by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

For many decades, gross domestic product has been the main indicator used by national and international institutions to define and measure progress. This focus on economic growth fails to capture many factors which affect people's lives. Safety, health, equity, a feeling of community and a clean environment are all important in determining our well-being.

Over the last decade, a number of countries and institutions have set out to identify alternative ways to measure the progress of societies: from a commission led by some of the world’s most renowned economists – Stiglitz, Sen, Fitoussi, to Germany setting up a parliamentary committee on “Growth, prosperity and the quality of life,” to Bhutan, whose King declared that gross national happiness is more important than gross national product. But are we ready to say goodbye GDP and say hello to GDW (well-being)?

As an organisation whose mission it is to help governments design better policies for better lives, the OECD is equally interested in understanding what drives the well-being of people and nations. Its “Better Life Index (BLI), an interactive online instrument that invites users to create their own Better Life indexes, was launched to engage citizens in the ongoing effort to identify key drivers of well-being. Since people are encouraged to share their results, this is also a way for the OECD to learn what really matters to them.

But this is not enough to drive policy change. What role can the OECD, the media, private sector, civil society and other actors play in translating academic rhetoric into action in language that encourages engagement and participation? This workshop will try to shed light on these and other questions, drawing upon the experience and expertise of panellists

Moderation:

Gooch, Anthony
Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France

Panelists:

Bergheim, Stefan
Founder and Director, Center for Societal Progress, Frankfurt, Germany

Blumenschein, Fernando
Senior Economist and Coordinator at FGV Projetos

Filatova, Irina
Senior Business Reporter, The Moscow Times, Russia

Complete workshop on soundcloud:

WS33 - Goodbye GDP, Hello GDW (Well-Being)?