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Hooray for GDP!

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  • Nicholas Oulton

Abstract

The idea of having GDP growth as the main target of economic policy has been under attack in recent years. The article answers some of the criticisms and argues that continued GDP growth would be good for the UK - and not just in the short term to reduce high levels of unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas Oulton, 2012. "Hooray for GDP!," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 383, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepcnp:383
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    File URL: https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cp383.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daron Acemoglu, 2012. "The World our Grandchildren Will Inherit: The Rights Revolution and Beyond," NBER Working Papers 17994, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Susanto Basu & Luigi Pascali & Fabio Schiantarelli & Luis Serven, 2022. "Productivity and the Welfare of Nations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 1647-1682.
    3. Robert J. Barro, 2013. "Inflation and Economic Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(1), pages 121-144, May.
    4. Carol Corrado & Charles Hulten & Daniel Sichel, 2009. "Intangible Capital And U.S. Economic Growth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(3), pages 661-685, September.
    5. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2008. "Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(1 (Spring), pages 1-102.
    6. Lomborg,Bjørn, 2001. "The Skeptical Environmentalist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521010689, October.
    7. Martin L. Weitzman, 1976. "On the Welfare Significance of National Product in a Dynamic Economy," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(1), pages 156-162.
    8. William Brock & M. Taylor, 2010. "The Green Solow model," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 127-153, June.
    9. Robert J. Gordon, 2009. "Misperceptions About the Magnitude and Timing of Changes in American Income Inequality," NBER Working Papers 15351, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Edward N. Wolff & Ajit Zacharias & Thomas Masterson, 2012. "Trends In American Living Standards And Inequality, 1959–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 58(2), pages 197-232, June.
    11. Mauro Giorgio Marrano & Jonathan Haskel & Gavin Wallis, 2009. "What Happened To The Knowledge Economy? Ict, Intangible Investment, And Britain'S Productivity Record Revisited," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(3), pages 686-716, September.
    12. William D. Nordhaus, 1992. "Lethal Model 2: The Limits to Growth Revisited," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 23(2), pages 1-60.
    13. Clinton P. McCully & Brian C. Moyer & Kenneth J. Stewart, 2007. "A Reconciliation between the Consumer Price Index and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index," BEA Papers 0079, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Oulton, 2022. "The Productivity-Welfare Linkage: A Decomposition," Discussion Papers 2205, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    2. Hardy, Daniel C. L., 2023. "Welfare, Autonomy, and Relative GDP," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 330, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    3. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2023. "Health, income, and the preston curve: A long view," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    4. Daniel C. L. Hardy, 2023. "Welfare, Autonomy, and Relative GDP," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp330, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    5. repec:cte:whrepe:34493 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2021. "Augmented human development in the age of globalization," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 946-975, November.
    7. Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2015. "World Human Development: 1870–2007," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 61(2), pages 220-247, June.
    8. Satoshi Araki, 2022. "Does Education Make People Happy? Spotlighting the Overlooked Societal Condition," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 587-629, February.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination

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