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This book is concerned with how current decisions about consumption and saving have an impact upon future well-being, and in particular how current measurable indicators can shed light upon the prospects for future well-being. It is concerned, in short, with the concept and measurement of sustainable development. This task is beset by conceptual and empirical challenges. Yet at the heart of this book lies a very practical concern – if sustainability is to mean anything at all it needs to be measurable. We feel a sense of urgency in this task. Because current systems of economic indicators do not clearly signal whether an economy is on a sustainable path, policy errors based on these indicators will continue to be made and perpetuated. Moreover, these errors have a long reach, since they affect not only current well-being but also the well-being of those living in the future. Our book builds upon a body of knowledge linking growth theory, asset accounting and indicators of sustainable development. Moreover, what we are particularly interested in is the empirical application of this accumulated knowledge.
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