Keyword: GDP

How to Make Sure We Don't Mangle the Pursuit of Good Industrial Policy and National Interest

Picture: World Bank Saliem Fakir - No sooner had Zuma confirmed his cabinet and a select few in the whining caucus already started complaining that industrial policy is best left to the private sector to sort out.  All government needs to do is dish out the incentives, lower the taxes for exporters and ensure wage expectations are kept to the minimum.  So long as government does this, the private sector will do its level best to pick the winners. Such cynicism against government intervention must be met with...

The Problem With Focusing on GDP as an Economic Barometer

Jospeh Stiglitz argues that there are a large number of ways in which a focus on GDP is not a good measure of economic performance and societal wellbeing. GDP doesn't tell you about what happens to the typical citizen and this is a problem when you have growing inequality in societies where most people, not just the poor, are becoming worse off. There are many alternative measures that we could be focusing on such as a focus on green GDP that takes into account of environmental degradation...