The Wealth that is Not Measured

This event looked at how policymakers must go beyond GDP to get the whole picture of the economic health and sustainability of a country.

The event kicked off with opening comments by Laura Tuck, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. In her brief remarks, she shared details of an upcoming report called “The Changing Wealth of Nations” which will be released in December. This report looks at natural, produced, and human capital in addition to net financial assets in 141 countries over a time span of 20 years.

Oxford University Professor Paul Collier gave a keynote address in which he spoke of the “fiction” of flow data and called for a change in how total wealth is estimated. Moderated by the Financial Times Africa Editor, David Pilling, a panel then delved deeper into the issue. The panel comprised Chola Chabala, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning in Zambia; David McCauley, VP of the World Wildlife Foundation and Roberta Gatti, Chief Economist of the Human Development Practice Group at the World Bank.