{"id":480,"date":"2025-06-11T09:27:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T09:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.edouardullmo.com\/?p=480"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:27:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T09:27:29","slug":"what-if-we-changed-how-we-measure-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edouardullmo.com\/en\/what-if-we-changed-how-we-measure-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"What If We Changed How We Measure Progress?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thoughts inspired by an article by Diane Coyle<\/a><\/strong> about the Rebuilding of Economics in the Age of Digitalization and Climate Crisis<\/p>\n

When Numbers No Longer Reflect Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since World War II, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been the undisputed benchmark for evaluating economic performance. It measures the wealth created, calculates growth, and ranks nations. But today, this industrial-age production counter no longer captures the complexities of our transformed world.<\/p>\n

Why do we still measure progress as we did in the 20th century, when we now live in a dematerialized, interconnected, data-saturated economy, facing unprecedented ecological and social emergencies?<\/p>\n

This is the pressing and nuanced question posed by economist Diane Coyle, Professor at the University of Cambridge, a specialist in the digital economy and in how indicators shape public policy. Through her work, she encourages us to rethink what we value, what we measure \u2014 and, crucially, what we choose to ignore.<\/p>\n

A Digital Economy that Escapes the Radar<\/strong><\/p>\n

We live in a world where a vast share of created value no longer flows through traditional market channels. A search engine, a video platform, or a messaging app provides immense perceived value \u2014 but without a visible monetary transaction.<\/p>\n

In other words, real individual well-being may increase without GDP rising. Conversely, an ecological disaster can boost national output through emergency spending \u2014 thus artificially inflating the notion of national wealth.<\/p>\n

Diane Coyle exposes a major paradox: what genuinely improves people\u2019s lives may not count in national accounts, while what harms our collective future may appear as economic growth.<\/p>\n

Indicators That Hide Intangible Assets<\/strong><\/p>\n

The digital economy is also an economy of intangibles: data, software, interfaces, brands, reputation, shared knowledge. These \u201cgoods\u201d don\u2019t wear out with use, replicate at near-zero marginal cost, and rely more on attention than physical capital.<\/p>\n

Yet national accounting still focuses on what can be touched, weighed, or stored. By undervaluing \u2014 or ignoring \u2014 intangible assets, it distorts business decisions, underestimates real growth, and renders invisible investment in creativity, education, and research.<\/p>\n

Coyle therefore calls for a fundamental overhaul of our measurement frameworks. Because, as she aptly notes, \u201cwhat we don\u2019t count doesn\u2019t exist \u2014 and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Framework That Neglects the Long Term<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another flaw in traditional indicators: their obsession with short-term flows. GDP makes no distinction between useful investment (training teachers) and destructive waste (rebuilding after preventable pollution). It aggregates monetary flows without considering the state of vital stocks \u2014 natural, human, or social capital.<\/p>\n

Diane Coyle proposes a \u201cnational balance sheet\u201d approach, inspired by corporate accounting: tracking the condition of a country\u2019s fundamental resources over time, not just what it \u201cproduces.\u201d This would allow us to finally incorporate critical but neglected dimensions: biodiversity loss, social trust, mental health, civic cohesion\u2026<\/p>\n

New Data, New Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reforming public statistics is not just about rewriting Excel spreadsheets. It involves integrating new measurement tools: big data, satellites, sensors, artificial intelligence. These technologies enable real-time, local, and even qualitative measurements.<\/p>\n

Concrete examples:<\/p>\n