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Clair Brown: Buddhist Economics (Hardcover, 2017, Bloomsbury Press) 5 stars

"Traditional economics measures the ways in which we spend our income, but doesn't attribute worth …

Here's a cheat sheet on how to calculate Buddhist measures of economic performance:

  • Increasing consumption of basic goods adds to economic performance, but more consumption of status goods does not.

  • Involuntary unemployment subtracts from economic performance, and increased time for nonmarket activities that is, unpaid activities outside the marketplace-adds to it.

  • Environmental degradation subtracts from economic performance, and consuming clean energy adds to it.

  • Declines in health have a negative effect, while improvements in education have a positive one.

  • Improving the opportunities available to each person adds to the economy; crime, violence, and natural disasters subtract from the economy.

  • Mindful use of time for work, family, and community increases economic performance, and overwork or harmful activities decrease growth.

  • Overall, growth is measured in terms of the mindful use of resources, which includes restoring and nurturing the sources of those goods, while harmful and wasteful consumption decreases growth.

Buddhist Economics by  (Page 108)

I hear that economists like to argue about what indicators matter. Pure "growth" based indicators aren't enough (or even appropriate) to measure how well an economy is performing. These seem valuable.