Andre LaRenzie, Chapter 9, Question #7

In the chapter entitled Keeping Score in the book "Naked Economics", the author, Charles Wheelan, brings up the topic of calculating growth and the size of economies of countries. He first states that the GDP is an easy way to measure economic growth and size, but there are plenty of "knocks" against it. A tremendous sized knock against GDP is that it doesn't measure happiness. Many scientists performed studies, and concluded that money does not result in happiness. This has broadened my view of a personal issue on money. Growing up I always thought that it was essential to make a lot of cash, so I could sustain a healthy and comfortable lifestyle. This is now dismissed because scientists recommend "experiences over commodities". Overall, the GDP of your country does matter, but is that all you look for to determine who has an economic power? Many things aren't measured in GDP, such as happiness, which should be measured because it does add to economic wealth if you are Keeping Score.