GDP more meaningful when paired with other indicators like Happiness Index: Credit Suisse

SINGAPORE (June 4): Rather than ignoring GDP growth or obsessing over it, it is much more meaningful to supplement it with other indicators that will provide a better overall picture and greater insight for policymakers, says a Credit Suisse report.

The report also suggested that the Happiness Index can be used as an alternative to economic output.

Urs Rohner, chairman of the Credit Suisse Research Institute and chairman of the board of directors of Credit Suisse Group says, “The fixation on GDP as ‘the’ indicator of progress by both public and private decision-makers has led to a neglect of multiple side-effects of economic growth. Also, with an increasingly digital global economy, we tend to become less capable of precisely measuring productivity of entire sectors.”

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