Abstract

The «Sarkozy Report» edited by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Amartya Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi argued that GDP does not provide reliable information on the economic performance and social progress of a country. The Commission expressed, rather, a preference for an indicator of «sustainable well-being», even if, as is well documented, its effective processing entails significant difficulties. In this paper I will outline the main implications of a vision of economic and social process that assumes present and future well-being as its centre. This is no purely statistical/accounting matter, for it raises more important and complex issues in terms both of economic analysis and economic policy that merit deeper collective research.