Stiglitz Commission

Stiglitz Commission, officially known as the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, was established by Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, in 2008 to review and improve the way Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is used to measure economic growth and social progress. The commission was led by Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate, and included other prominent economists such as Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, a Professor of Economics at Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris. The commission's work was influenced by the ideas of Simon Kuznets, the creator of the GDP concept, and Milton Friedman, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.

● Introduction

The Stiglitz Commission was formed in response to growing concerns about the limitations of GDP as a measure of economic growth and social progress, which were first raised by Robert F. Kennedy in a speech at the University of Kansas in 1968. The commission's work built on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, a British economist and Professor of Economics at Cambridge University, and James Tobin, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics at Yale University. The commission's members, including Angus Deaton, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics at Princeton University, and François Bourguignon, a Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics, brought a wide range of expertise and perspectives to the table, drawing on the work of Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher and economist, and Karl Marx, a German philosopher and economist.

● Background

The Stiglitz Commission was established in the context of the 2008 global financial crisis, which highlighted the need for new ways of measuring economic growth and social progress. The commission's work was influenced by the ideas of Hyman Minsky, a Professor of Economics at Washington University in St. Louis, and Charles Kindleberger, a Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The commission's members, including Robert Shiller, a Professor of Economics at Yale University, and George Akerlof, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics at University of California, Berkeley, drew on the work of John Kenneth Galbraith, a Canadian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics at Princeton University.

● Mandate_and_Objectives

The Stiglitz Commission was mandated to review and improve the way GDP is used to measure economic growth and social progress, with a focus on developing new indicators that take into account environmental degradation, income inequality, and human well-being. The commission's objectives were influenced by the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, a Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, and drew on the ideas of Mahbub ul Haq, a Pakistani economist and developer of the Human Development Index (HDI). The commission's members, including Enrico Giovannini, a Professor of Economics at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", and Marc Fleurbaey, a Professor of Economics at Princeton University, worked closely with international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank.

● Members_and_Structure

The Stiglitz Commission consisted of 25 members, including economists, statisticians, and social scientists from around the world. The commission was chaired by Joseph Stiglitz, with Amartya Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi serving as co-chairs. The commission's members, including Bina Agarwal, a Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester, and Kenneth Arrow, a Nobel laureate and Professor of Economics at Stanford University, worked in close collaboration with international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The commission's secretariat was hosted by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

● Recommendations_and_Report

The Stiglitz Commission published its report in 2009, which included a set of recommendations for improving the measurement of economic growth and social progress. The report emphasized the need to move beyond GDP and to develop new indicators that take into account environmental degradation, income inequality, and human well-being. The commission's recommendations were influenced by the work of Herman Daly, a Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, and Robert Costanza, a Professor of Economics at the University of Vermont. The report was widely praised by economists and policymakers around the world, including Barack Obama, the President of the United States, and Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany.

● Impact_and_Implementation

The Stiglitz Commission's report had a significant impact on the way economists and policymakers think about economic growth and social progress. The report's recommendations have been implemented by international organizations such as the OECD and the World Bank, and have influenced the development of new indicators such as the Better Life Index and the Human Development Index (HDI). The commission's work has also inspired a new generation of economists and researchers, including Thomas Piketty, a Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics, and Branko Milanovic, a Professor of Economics at the City University of New York.

● Critique_and_Controversy

The Stiglitz Commission's report has not been without criticism and controversy. Some economists have argued that the report's recommendations are too broad and lack a clear framework for implementation. Others have criticized the report's emphasis on environmental degradation and income inequality, arguing that these issues are not directly related to economic growth and social progress. Despite these criticisms, the Stiglitz Commission's report remains an important contribution to the debate on how to measure economic growth and social progress, and its recommendations continue to influence policymakers and researchers around the world, including Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Jim Yong Kim, the President of the World Bank.

Category:International organizations