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Is Economic Growth Really Essential?
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The financial crisis has prompted many Germans to question the "cult" of GDP. Could we live with less economic growth and be happier?
How is the German economy doing? Has it emerged from the worst of the economic crisis?
There is probably no one in Germany who can answer those questions—questions which are currently on everyone's mind—quicker or more precisely than Norbert Räth. His response consists of a single number.
Räth, a white-haired economist in his late 50s, is sitting in his corner office on the eighth floor of the Federal Statistical Office in the German city of Wiesbaden. He is in charge of the agency's Group III A, which addresses issues relating to the national accounts, used to measure the country's economic activity. If the national accounts can be characterized as Germany's balance sheet, then Räth is the country's senior accountant.
His office compiles all key economic data relating to Germany, including figures on building permits and hotel stays, poultry slaughter and automobile repair, even data on the amount of tax paid on sparkling wine by wineries. "We have data on every payment made," says ...
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