London Futurists's video: Going beyond GDP - Changing statistics in the 2020s

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a 20th century success story: the measure which came to define our concepts of progress, economic success, political virility and generalised welfare or well-being. However, even at its birth its architects noted the particular unsuitability of GDP for this purpose. How did GDP come to dominate economic and political debate despite these inauspicious foundations? Why do experts consider it a poor measure of welfare? And if we understand the strengths and the weaknesses of this ubiquitous yardstick, how do we go beyond it to provide new statistics which tell a wider and deeper story? In an increasingly capital-led 21st century, where new data on social and environmental issues is more readily available than ever before, how do we look "Beyond GDP", both in terms of concepts and data, to define better measures? And what do these new statistics tell us about modern societies? This London Futurists webinar features Richard Heys, Deputy Chief Economist at the UK's Office of National Statistics. It was recorded on 26th November 2022. The webinar was introduced and moderated by David Wood, Chair of London Futurists. Apologies for some difficulties with the audio and the slides at various points. Hopefully these will not detract from the quality of the ideas featured. For a presentation containing all the slides that the speaker had prepared for this event, see https://londonfuturists.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/new-beyond-gdp-measures-for-the-uk.pdf For more information about the event and the speaker, see https://www.meetup.com/London-Futurists/events/289646864/