Oakland Schools Economics Moodle, Unit 3, Lesson 3 GPI Slides

1. An Alternative to GDP:
GPI - Genuine
Progress Indicator
• Developed in 1995
• Attempts to measure factors
not measured by GDP
• Adjusts for income
distribution
• Focuses on economic well-
being not monetary
transactions
• Adds for
– Increase in leisure and
vacation time
– volunteer and non-market work

2. Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)
Subtracts for
• Crime = $40 billion/yr
• Pollution and loss of natural
resources
– Counts $1.2 billion in toxic
clean-up costs decrease
• Health care expenditures for
preventable illness
– Heart attacks
– High blood pressure
• Loss in infrastructure
– From natural disasters or war
• Foreign debt counts as
negative
– GDP can count as positive
government spending