Growth Beyond GDP: A Call for Broader Metrics

Economic growth is currently slower than it was in the 1960s and 1970s, despite advances in new technologies and scientific discoveries. This slowdown has led to a pervasive hope that AI might reinvigorate productivity, reflecting a wishful thinking among policymakers. However, growth should not be measured solely in terms of monetary value. Various indicators, such as health and life expectancy, reveal worsening conditions, particularly in the last decade where progress has stagnated or regressed in some areas. The historical improvements in global health are no longer uniformly reflected, particularly in the context of life expectancy in the U.S. and elsewhere, suggesting a need to reassess what growth truly means and how it is measured.