From GDP to Wellbeing: the measurable contribution of culture

GDP does not provide us with particularly significant information. It measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile, and it omits what we should be proud of in our societies. In order to find new ways of fulfilling the funding values of our democracy and to preserve peace in Europe, new measures are needed to help us make decisions in an historic moment that calls for radical change. Women and men should be empowered to enhance both their personal - and our collective - social capital, which ultimately depends on the quality of their day-today cultural experiences, are essential to that change. Despite its importance, emergent well-being indices do not include a cultural dimension. There are difficult questions to ask on this subject, that will possibly carry even more problematic answers, but the obstacles do not reside in the lack of means, knowledge or minds: they are only in the lack of will. Several cultural factors can be measured that combine statistical and non-statistical techniques. The conceptual obstacles that have been experienced in building environmental indices are very similar to the ones we need to deal with to assess cultural impact. It is time to measure that which makes life worthwhile, and it can be done.