ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about alternative ways to evaluate the overall performance of the economy from a more inclusive and gender-aware perspective, and why this matters, and to whom. Economic performance is the assessment of an economy in relation to how it functions and what outcomes it produces to the people who constitute the economy, and the environment in which it is embedded. Economic growth generates new resources. These resources can be used for making new investments in the factors of production, thus warranting more growth in the future when invested wisely. The depletion of natural resources and of biodiversity undermines present human wellbeing, future growth and development. Therefore, the use of natural resources needs to be taxed. The Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) was originally designed in 1989 by ecological-economist Herman Daly and theologian, philosopher and environmentalist John B. Cobb, and his son Christopher Cobb.
