The Social Progress Index

In this video Michael Green discusses the fact that there is no clear correlation between GDP and social progress, providing empirical proof that “GDP is not our destiny”.

He shows that although GDP increases are hugely beneficial in poor countries when the money is well invested, the benefit of further GDP growth becomes less clear as countries get richer. After a certain point, the extent that more income impacts a country’s social progress depends on how that extra income is spent. So for wealthier countries, pursuit of growth is not necessarily a valid goal.

Why do you think some countries over-perform and some under-perform so drastically? Can you ever imagine a measure like this playing a greater role?