GNP and Market Prices: Wrong Signals for Sustainable Economic Success That Mask Environmental Destruction
Author(s)
Tinbergen, Jan; Hueting, Roefie
Abstract
The market is rightly considered a mechanism that generates man-made goods and services according to consumer preference. This mechanism allows culture and technology to put into practice inventions that enrich human life. The market works well, but not all factors contributing to human welfare are captured by it. Consequently, market prices and economic indicators based on them, such as national income and cost-benefit analyses, misleadingly signal to society and therefore must be corrected.
