Measuring Success

Why are many economists world addicted to watching GDP? It's a simple measure, but a hopelessly flawed indicator of the health of a nation. It tracks a limited number of economic indicator while ignoring important things such as pollution. You wouldn't go to a doctor who only tested your pulse, so why do we believe in GDP? Australia and other nations, the entire world are a complex brew of environment, economy, and society. Dr Robert Costanza and colleagues have been researching better ways to understand humanity and the planet as an interacting system. Dr Costanza is from the at Crawford School of Public Policy. Recorded in Canberra, 22 Feb 2014.