It’s Time to Replace More with Better

To economists, there’s no distinction between money spent on Stuff that makes life better and money spent on Stuff that makes life worse. GDP treats both the same. If GDP goes up, we’re told we’re golden—even though it doesn’t actually tell us a thing about how we’re really doing as a society. In what I call the ‘Game of More’, politicians cheer a steadily growing economy at the same time as our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing and polar icecaps are melting.

But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn’t more, but better—better health, better jobs and a better chance to survive on the planet?  Shouldn’t that be what winning means? - Annie Leonard