In the first book of its kind, leading economists from around the world, including Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Elizabeth Beasely, Jacob Hacker, Francois Bourguignon, Nora Lustig, Alan B. Krueger, and Joseph E. Stiglitz, describe a range of fascinating metrics - from economic insecurity and environmental sustainability to inequality of opportunity and levels of trust and resilience - that can be used to supplement the simplistic measure of gross domestic product, providing a far more nuanced and accurate account of societal health and well-being.

In 2009, a group of economists issued a report challenging gross domestic product (GDP) as a measure of progress and well-being. Now, in Measuring What Counts they - propose a new, 'beyond GDP' agenda. This book provides an accessible overview of the last decade's global movement, sparked by the original critique of GDP, and proposes a new 'dashboard' of metrics to assess a society's health, including measures of inequality and economic vulnerability, whether growth is environmentally sustainable, and how people feel about their lives.