ABSTRACT
Modern society is organised around a particular model of how to pursue human well-being. Broadly stated, this model contends that increasing consumption leads to improved well-being. This conception of progress has a strong intuitive appeal and a powerful hold over the electorate, which goes some way to explaining why the pursuit of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has become one of the principal policy objectives in almost every country in the world in the last few decades. Rising GDP traditionally symbolises a thriving economy, more spending power, richer and fuller lives, increased family security, greater choice, and more public spending. A declining GDP, by contrast, is bad news. Consumer spending falls, business go bust, jobs get lost, homes are repossessed and a Government which fails to respond appropriately is liable to find itself out of office.
