GNP Alternative Economic Performance Measures

Estimates of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Vermont, Chittenden County and Burlington, from 1950 to 2000

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), a version of the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), is a significantly more comprehensive approach to assessing economic progress than conventional measures like gross domestic product (GDP). GPI adjusts for income distribution effects, the value of household and volunteer work, costs of mobility and pollution, and the depletion of social and natural capital. ISEW or GPI have been estimated for several countries around the world and a few Canadian provinces, but we report here on the first multi-scale application at the city, county and state levels in Vermont, USA. We show that it is feasible to apply the GPI approach at these smaller scales and to compare across scales and with the national average. Data limitations and problems still exist, but potential solutions to these problems also exist. All three Vermont scales had significantly higher GPI per capita since 1980 than the national average, indicating the major differences that can exist within countries. The GPI per capita for all Vermont scales was similar to the national average in the 1950–1980 period, but more than twice the national average by 2000. The main factors explaining this difference had to do with Vermont’s much better environmental performance than the national average in the post-1980 period.

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