Going beyond GDP: Changing statistics in the 2020s

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a 20th century success story: the measure which came to define our concepts of progress, economic success, political virility and generalised welfare or well-being.

However, even at its birth its architects noted the particular unsuitability of GDP for this purpose. How did GDP come to dominate economic and political debate despite these inauspicious foundations? Why do experts consider it a poor measure of welfare? And if we understand the strengths and the weaknesses of this ubiquitous yardstick, how do we go beyond it to provide new statistics which tell a wider and deeper story?

In an increasingly capital-led 21st century, where new data on social and environmental issues is more readily available than ever before, how do we look "Beyond GDP", both in terms of concepts and data, to define better measures? And what do these new statistics tell us about modern societies?

This London Futurists webinar features Richard Heys, Deputy Chief Economist at the UK's Office of National Statistics. It will be an opportunity to consider the question, "what matters most?" - a question that is increasingly important given the turbulence and disruption of the 2020s.

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This event will be hosted on Zoom. To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CqOOqKjmTh-vlu2eoPEp1A

The Zoom registration fee (UKP £2.50) helps cover London Futurists running costs. (The Zoom registration page opens a PayPal interface, but there is NO requirement for attendees to use a PayPal account.)

The webinar can also be viewed, without charge, on the London Futurists YouTube channel, but without the option to participate in the live Q&A.

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Richard Heys is Deputy Chief Economist at the Office for National Statistics and leads the measurement of economic Beyond GDP measures, Productivity and Investment Statistics. He had led a research team publishing papers relating to digitalisation of the economy, the impact of new technology, data, and crypto-assets, and establishing new Beyond GDP measures.

Richard is also the Chair of the OECD’s Working Party on Measuring and Analysing the Digital Economy, a member of the Bureau of the OECD Working Party on national Accounts, and was a member of the UN’s System of National Accounts Taskteam on the impact of Digitalisation, with a focus on free digital services, data and conceptual prices and volumes issues. He has degrees from Oxford and UCL.

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The webinar will start broadcasting at 4pm UK time on Sat 26th Nov. To find this time in other timezones, use https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20221126T160000&p1=136

Please log into Zoom up to 10 minutes ahead of the start time of the event, so you won't miss the start of the live broadcast.

As the discussion proceeds, attendees will be welcome to raise questions and vote to prioritise questions raised by others.

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The image above includes a graphic design from Pixabay user Mediamodifier, used with thanks.

To register for this event, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CqOOqKjmTh-vlu2eoPEp1A