MdM SEMINAR SERIES - “How to replace GDP by 2030” by Dr. Rutger Hoekstra

MdM SEMINAR SERIES

Title:  “How to replace GDP by 2030”

Speaker: Dr. Rutger Hoekstra

 

Date: Tuesday 18 June 2019

Time: 12h-13.30h

Venue: Room Z/022

Hoekstra will summarize the contents of his new book Replacing GDP by 2030. This involves discussing shortcomings of the GDP and proposals for alternative indicators. He will provide a historical sketch of how GDP became the world's most influential indicator and why, despite criticism and alternative indicators, it has not been replaced thus far. The success of GDP and the failure of beyond-GDP are argued to relate to the features of their underlying communities. The beyond-GDP community is too heterogeneous and a fundamental change is needed for it to beat the 'GDP-multinational'. Hoekstra will propose a roadmap to 2030, detailing how to create a multidisciplinary Wellbeing and Sustainability Science with a common language, namely a System of Global and National Accounts.

Bio

Dr. Rutger Hoekstra has nearly 20 years of experience working on the quantification of well-being and sustainability from an academic, governmental, statistical and business perspectives. He is the author of Replacing GDP by 2030: Towards a Common Language for the Well-being and Sustainability Community which was published in May 2019 by Cambridge University Press. He recently established the company MetricsForTheFuture.com. Previously he was scientific director at KPMG-Sustainability and senior researcher at Statistics Netherlands.