When a car is repaired after a crash, the GDP goes up.
When a fruit or vegetable is grown only to be thrown out by a supermarket as food waste, the GDP goes up.
When you replace a phone that still works because of planned obsolescence, the GDP goes up.
When you throw out a perfectly good coat because it's no longer fashionable, and buy a new one in this season's style, the GDP goes up.
When a bridge has to be replaced because it wasn't built right, the GDP goes up.
When a piece of packaging is manufactured only to be thrown away straight away, the GDP goes up.
When a site needs to be decontaminated because chemicals weren't stored correctly, the GDP goes up.
In each case, society has no more usable wealth than it would have had if the car didn't crash, the vegetable wasn't grown, the phone wasn't replaced, the old coat was still being worn, there was less packaging, or the chemicals were stored correctly. Yet the GDP goes up.
Meanwhile, most of the wealth that is generated ends up in the top one percent's pockets.
The tru... show moreWhen a car is repaired after a crash, the GDP goes up.
When a fruit or vegetable is grown only to be thrown out by a supermarket as food waste, the GDP goes up.
When you replace a phone that still works because of planned obsolescence, the GDP goes up.
When you throw out a perfectly good coat because it's no longer fashionable, and buy a new one in this season's style, the GDP goes up.
When a bridge has to be replaced because it wasn't built right, the GDP goes up.
When a piece of packaging is manufactured only to be thrown away straight away, the GDP goes up.
When a site needs to be decontaminated because chemicals weren't stored correctly, the GDP goes up.
In each case, society has no more usable wealth than it would have had if the car didn't crash, the vegetable wasn't grown, the phone wasn't replaced, the old coat was still being worn, there was less packaging, or the chemicals were stored correctly. Yet the GDP goes up.
Meanwhile, most of the wealth that is generated ends up in the top one percent's pockets.
The truth is that GDP isn't a useful measurement. It's just a convenient one.
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ukpol
