The Pope came to visit the USA, “Capitalism gives you freedom but without social equality. Socialism gives you social equality without freedom.”
capitalism = freedom vs. Socialism = equality
Why did they invent GDP?
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” (by Peter Drucker—author of over 39 books on business—has been credited with inventing modern business management.)
So,
The current politicians have attempted to blur the boundary of these definitions to promote the “Social Progress Index*” to replace the “GDP**” driven measurement.
What do you want if you got one choice (GDP or KPI)? 《 滕王閣序》是初唐詩人王勃的佳作，它裡面有“四美具，二難並”的句子。四美是指良辰、美景、賞心、樂事；二難是指賢主、嘉賓。
The United Nations ranked the USA at #38, while PRC, #76, by KPI. Of course, by GDP, PRC, the top in 2016.
Ref:
* The Social Progress Index (SPI) measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-four indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity to progress show the relative performance of nations. The index is published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative, and is based on the writings of Amartya Sen, Douglass North, and Joseph Stiglitz.[1] The SPI measures the well-being of a society by observing social and environmental outcomes directly rather than the economic factors. The social and environmental factors include wellness (including health, shelter and sanitation), equality, inclusion, sustainability and personal freedom and safety.[2][full citation needed]
- Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries.[2][3] Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is often revised before being considered a reliable indicator. GDP (nominal) per capita does not, however, reflect differences in the cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries; therefore, using a basis of GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) may be more useful when comparing living standards between nations, while nominal GDP is more useful comparing national economies on the international market.[4] Total GDP can also be broken down into the contribution of each industry or sector of the economy.[5] The ratio of GDP to the total population of the region is the per capita GDP (also called the Mean Standard of Living).
GDP definitions are maintained by a number of national and international economic organizations. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines GDP as "an aggregate measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident and institutional units engaged in production and services (plus any taxes, and minus any subsidies, on products not included in the value of their outputs)".[6] An IMF publication states that, "GDP measures the monetary value of final goods and services—that are bought by the final user—produced in a country in a given period of time (say a quarter or a year)."[7]
GDP is often used as a metric for international comparisons as well as a broad measure of economic progress. It is often considered to be the "world's most powerful statistical indicator of national development and progress".[8] However, critics of the growth imperative often argue that GDP measures were never intended to measure progress, and leave out key other externalities, such as resource extraction, environmental impact and unpaid domestic work.[9] Critics frequently propose alternative economic models such as doughnut economics which use other measures of success or alternative indicators such as the OECD's Better Life Index as better approaches to measuring the effect of the economy on human development and well being.
