Listen to episode one of the CITED PODCAST!
In this episode of the Cited Podcasts's new mini series, the Use and Abuse of Economic Expertise, Producer Alec Opperman talks with sociologist Dan Hirschman, bringing the story of the man who pioneered the GDP, Simon Kuznets, to life.
"The GDP was not the measure Kuznets hoped it would be. It's a story that reveals the surprisingly contentious politics of counting things up.
Plus, what about alternatives to GDP? The Genuine Progress Indicator, the Human Development Index, the Green GDP, and so on. These measures are said to be more progressive, as they often capture things we value (like, care work for instance), and subtracting out things we could use less off (like, environmental degradation). Scholars and policy wonks have been raging about these types of measures for decades, but they have not taken off. Why? Economic historian Dirk Philipsen, author of the Little Big Number: How GDP Came to Rule the World and What to Do About It, talks to Alec about why a good number alone is never enough to change the world."
