Criticism
The international community is grappling with the issue of properly measuring the wealth of countries in a comprehensive way. People have complained for years about the inadequacy of the GDP as a measure of a country’s income and wealth. That was because it was unable to tell if people lived a good life. The typical complaint about GDP revolves around the activities that are included in counting the output of goods and services and those that are excluded. For example, GDP excludes unpaid work done in the house. More often than not women and young girls are the ones performing such household chores. This deficiency of the economic yardstick helps to remind people of how women are disadvantaged and marginalized in society.
Another criticism of GDP is that it misses the underground economy completely. As a consequence, not all the economic activities taking place in a country are captured in the measurement of GDP. Further, GDP usually uses price to measure output, but many government services do not carry a price and hence, the true level of economic activity is not measured properly, thereby distorting the GDP. As some have observed, GDP measures income and not equality. It measures growth and not destruction. It ignores things like social cohesion and the environment. This is something that Guyana in its quest for economic inclusion, social cohesion and a green economy should have a