Gross Domestic Product (GDP) refers to the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. Simon Kuznets first developed the concept of the GDP for a US Congress report in 1934. He immediately said not to use it as a measure for welfare. He later elaborated:
“Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth, between costs and returns, and between the short and long run. Goals for more growth should specify more growth of what and for what.”
Sheer Madness at best
Today, the concept of Gross Domestic Product is vastly flawed to the point where the tail now wags the dog. GDP now determines what we produce, who produces it, where it is produced, when and how it is produced. Further, GDP snuffs out vast amounts of intangible value simply because it cannot be measured as GDP.
Global Policy is not enough
Recently, The G-20 meetings resolved to a very interesting point; to redefine GDP by a new set of metrics. This will be a long hard journey if done solely in the political domain. However, if we can make a business case for it, the entrepreneurs will jump on board. Then, and only then, can the landscape change as rapidly and drastically as will be required to turn civilization around equitably and peacefully.
Corporate Policy is not enough
The irony is that those who perpetrate GDP metrics may be those who would benefit the most from dumping it. In the following article from FastCompany, How Intangible Corporate Culture Creates Tangible Profits, companies who learn to transform intangible assets to tangible value become more competitive over companies that do not. The article cites Southwest Airlines as the first airline to strip down all “tangible” amenities, yet they succeed by replacing them with intangible value such as superior customer experience.
Policy, Corporations, Culture and Entrepreneurs need to act as one:
Interestingly, the FastCompany article talks a great deal about culture. They also use the terms; “information, knowledge, innovation, and wisdom” liberally throughout the text. This is very inspiring to us at The Ingenesist Project because we use similar language to design and deploy business methods in industries as diverse as Aviation, Construction, and Philanthropy that readily convert between tangible and intangible value.
For Example:
- The objective of Zertify is to replace the competitive incentives among communities and replace them with a knowledge inventory that matches mentors to protégé. Teachers and students do not compete, they collaborate in order to be successful.
- The Value Game creates an environment where one acting in the best interest of their collaborator, acts in their own best interest of value creation.
- Our Exoquant algorithm provides a direct relatedness between information, knowledge, innovation, and wisdom.
The New Value Movement
When we talk about the New Value Movement, we are trying to specify a new class of business methods that can literally “manufacture” the things that people actually need without any distinction between tangible and intangible. People need a game that they can win playing by the same set of rules. People need food as much as the need love – there is no walled garden of human needs, except the planet we share.
