toward a multi-dimension GDP

To me, development of alternative social well-being indicators is a very important stage in this overall process, because if we shift from GDP to something else it lengthens the "shadow of the future" - it gives us a tighter, more obvious connection to future generations and to other biota on this planet. That can change the discourse really dramatically - change the whole calculus of values and factual assumptions within which we see human behavior.

-- Thomas Homer-Dixon, Worldchanging Interview: Thomas Homer-Dixon (Worldchanging.com)

In all areas of human endeavour, there are hard data and soft data. The happiness of a society or the progress of a civilisation, are multi-dimensional: components are determined by subjective consensus, not objective measurement.

[...]

So long as everyone follows [an internationally agreed set of statistical] conventions, movements in GDP tell you something about national prosperity and economic progress, even if it is not entirely clear what. But no economic data, hard or soft, can ever tell the whole story. Prosperity and progress are soft concepts and official statistics are at best a supplement, not a substitute, for evidence of eyes and ears.

-- John Kay, Why data, soft or hard, cannot replace eyes and ears