Advances in Business Statistics, Methods and Data Collection

3GDP and the SNA: Future Challenges

Steve MacFeely¹ and Peter van de Ven²

¹Director of Data and Analytics, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

²Inter‐Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts, New York, USA

3.1 Introduction

Gross domestic product (GDP), the world's principal measure of economic growth is frequently used as a proxy for prosperity and well‐being. Palmer (1966) described GDP as the “chief criterion for national welfare or progress.” Throughout its life, GDP has had its share of critics. From the outset, Simon Kuznets, the economist most commonly associated with the creation of GDP, cautioned it could unwittingly act as a “statistical laundry” concealing inequality and would be an unreliable or inappropriate measure of well‐being (Kuznets 1962).

Today there are a growing number of commentators arguing that GDP has outlived its usefulness. Their criticisms can be broadly categorized into two classes. The first are measurement problems within the existing framework arising from changes in the economy and society – most notably globalization and digitalization. The second set of criticisms deal with the limits of the SNA framework itself and are sometimes described by the catchall “Beyond GDP” and center on questions as to whether the SNA can or should measure well‐being and sustainability.

This chapter summarizes the most important of these criticisms and challenges that will shape the future development of the SNA (and by extension business and social ...