Monday, October 21, 2013
“State of the States” Misleading and Shallow
We often talk about the numerous shortcomings of GDP as a performance indicator, and yet it continues to dominate our airwaves.
Today the ABC and other media outlets are uncritically reporting a “State of the States” report by CommSec, which purports to rank the performance of the States. The ranking system rewards economic and population growth. As far as I can tell it does not include in its ranking criteria things like protection of habitat, how endangered species are faring, the gap between rich and poor, quality of education, quality of health services, and numerous other important indicators.
I can’t see any reference to traffic congestion, housing affordability, or the cost of living pressures on older people arising from population growth. It is a pity such reports, which are shallow and misleading, receive such uncritical media acceptance.
Posted by Kelvin Thomson MP at 2:04 PM
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