Measuring What Counts: The Global Movement for Well-being explores how societies can move beyond gross domestic product (GDP) to understand real progress. Drawing on a decade of international work led by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Jean-Paul Fitoussi, and Martine Durand at the OECD, it shows why economic growth alone is a poor guide to quality of life.
The book offers a clear, accessible overview of new approaches to measuring social and economic performance. Instead of focusing narrowly on output, it highlights a broader “dashboard” of indicators, including inequality, economic insecurity, environmental sustainability, and people’s own reports of how satisfied they are with their lives.
Readers are introduced to the intellectual and policy debates that followed the landmark 2009 critique of GDP, and to the global movement that has since emerged around well-being statistics. The authors explain how better metrics can reshape public priorities, inform smarter policies, and bring human experience back to the centre of economic decision-making.
Ideal for researchers, policy makers, students, and engaged citizens, this book serves as both an introduction to well-being measurement and a practical guide to using new indicators to rethink progress in the 21st century.
