Redefining prosperity

The document examines the limitations of GDP as a measure of progress, noting that the pursuit of material gain leads to social inequity and environmental degradation. It identifies systemic roadblocks to redefining prosperity—including national reliance on GDP for revenue, cultural associations of success with consumption, and business models based on consumerism. The authors propose a suite of actions, such as the adoption of complementary well-being indicators, the potential introduction of wealth taxes to decouple growth from resource use, and a shift in corporate marketing to reshape societal values. Case studies from countries like Bhutan, Australia, and the UK illustrate various ways beyond-GDP indicators have been implemented.

• The current global development paradigm is unsustainable because straining planetary boundaries further could lead to catastrophic consequences with very little possibility of reversal.
• GDP is an insufficient measure of prosperity because it ignores social relationship quality, health, and longevity, while failing to account for the depletion of natural, human, and social capital.
• National governments face a significant roadblock in moving beyond GDP because their revenue models rely heavily on taxes from formal transactions, making GDP growth the primary method to increase funds.
• International political relations based on realism hinder the shift toward well-being, as a nation's global influence is still tied to its economic size and military strength.
• Absolute decoupling of economic growth from resource footprints has not been achieved by any country in the last 50 years, according to a 2016 study.
• Wealth taxes are proposed as a tool to both generate government revenue in a slower-growth economy and reduce the disproportionately high resource footprint of the wealthy.
• Case studies show that beyond-GDP indicators typically complement rather than replace GDP, serving symbolic, political, or instrumental roles depending on the jurisdiction.

APA

Jain, A., & Chhabra, S. (2022). Redefining prosperity. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/redefining-prosperity-stockholm50backgroundpaper.pdf

Chicago

Jain, Abhishek, and Sanjana Chhabra. Redefining prosperity. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/redefining-prosperity-stockholm50backgroundpaper.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jain |first1=Abhishek |last2=Chhabra |first2=Sanjana |title=Redefining prosperity |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/redefining-prosperity-stockholm50backgroundpaper.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jain2022redefining, author = {Jain, Abhishek and Chhabra, Sanjana}, title = {{Redefining prosperity}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/redefining-prosperity-stockholm50backgroundpaper.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }