type="main" <p>Worrying about possible future economic dangers subtracts from the present well-being of individuals, which is why affluent societies have complex systems of private insurance and public social protection to provide a degree of economic security. However, such protections are largely...</p>

The Human Development Index (HDI) uses GDP per capita to measure "command over resources," which implicitly makes the strong value judgment that inequality and insecurity do not matter. This paper presents revised estimates of the Index of Economic Well-Being (IEWB) for the United States, the...

Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is a poor indicator of economic well-being. It measures effective consumption poorly (ignoring the value of leisure and of longer life spans) and it also ignores the value of accumulation for the benefit of future generations. Since incomes are uncertain...