# GDP Was Never Going to Make You Happy

An episode of [Optimist Economy](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1802625282), 19 Aug 2025, 53 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/sblTq32fyWAjsHzze2LG/dovetail.prxu.org/14811/bec849b0-7112-44e2-8945-c7cd57a031d9/7c618875-47e2-4c38-87fd-1d4035a381eb.mp3

Gross Domestic Product is the big dog of economic numbers. But this measure of the economy’s size has massive blind spots. It ignores income inequality and citizens’ wellbeing. It rewards consumption and thus environmental degradation. Yes, it is vital to know if your economy is growing or shrinking and why. And yet maybe GDP shouldn’t be the lodestar. In fact, as economist Kathryn Edwards relays, the person who invented GDP warned us of its limitations.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.