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New Measure

This seems to be a sensible way to measure the wealth of a nation - net domestic product specially if it incentivizes behavior that secures the prosperity of future generations.

One key difference, which could support climate action, is that NDP includes the depletion of non-renewable natural resources like coal, oil and gas as a cost of production, shrinking their value in the calculation.

Bram Edens, a statistician with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), explained that accounting for how reserves of fossil fuels are used up will reduce their value in the same way that the value of buildings or machinery falls due to the wear and tear they suffer over time

Ironically, this is the kind of measure we would apply in our personal lives. Are the actions we are taking result in short term gain at the cost of long term pain. If so, those actions are unwise. You don't tell off your boss or neighbor in a moment of upset because you know the moment of vindication will be over and tomorrow you will have reason to regret you actions. Applying the same kind of commonsense seems to become much harder for choices made at national scale.

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