Rethinking Welfare Metrics

Abstract

In Economics, the concept of welfare, and specifically maximizing welfare, has been an important area of study since the inception of the field. Historically economists have used single indicators, like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or Composite Indicators, like the Human Development Index (HDI), both to compare welfare across societies and understand the welfare level within one society. This paper presents a dashboard approach to welfare as an alternative and shows how a collection of indicators listed together gives the best picture of the welfare of a society. This project considers both the philosophical and theoretical background necessary for measuring welfare as well as the economic data to argue for this dashboard approach.