Measuring Progress: is life getting better?
Richard Eckersley (ed.), CSIRO Publishing, 1998
Review by Steve Hatfield Dodds
Zadok Perspectives Issue No. 62
Spring/Summer 1998/1999

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE of the good life and the good society are as old as civilisation-indeed they are one of the hallmarks of civilisation itself. Measuring Progress continues this rich tradition, bringing together a veritable pantheon of Australian experts in the construction and interpretation of social, economic and environmental indicators. Based on a conference in July 1997, it provides a detailed and comprehensive coverage of the major links between economic activity, material living standards, social factors and well-being, along with an excellent discussion of environmental indicators and interesting commentaries by senior policy makers and representatives from key community groups.

The book opens with six papers on the idea of progress and the need for indicators other than gross domestic product (GDP). The roots of this discussion lie in the 'limits to growth' debate of the 1960s and early 1970s, culminating in current attempts to develop genuine progress indicators (GPIs) and indexes of sustainable economic welfare (ISEWs). Ted Halstead, founder of the US think-tank Redefining Progress, discusses the politics of these measures. He argues that their main purpose is rhetorical, highlighting the inadequacies of GDP and focusing attention on wider issues of quality of life. Attention to the nature of progress also provides a vehicle for the discussion of wider social values, and helps to empower communities to set their own bench marks and agendas.

Clive Hamilton describes the genuine progress indicator developed by the Australia Institute. In marked contrast to the continuing trend growth in GDP, this work suggests that Australian economic well-being peaked in the early 1970s. The main factors explaining this divergence are the rising social costs associated with unemployment and overwork-one of the paradoxes of an increasingly divided society-and the running down of environmental assets and economic capital stock. Hamilton notes that similar indicators developed for the USA, UK and other nations show the same general decline in national well-being, and attributes this malaise to policies lauding freer markets and smaller government, along with the general process of globalisation.

The four remaining sections deal with measures of well-being; issues associated with work, poverty and income; indicators of environmental quality and sustainability; and a range of responses and commentary. Focusing on the first two of these, Eva Cox provides an interesting introduction to the notion of 'social capital': the quality of the relationships that constitute our local and larger communities. Alex Wearing and Bruce Headey describe the science of measuring (and explaining) perceived well-being, also known as 'happiness'. Michael Pusey explores some recent findings on the impact of economic reform on the mind of 'middle Australia', particularly in relation to perceived income distribution and job security. Sue Richardson argues that, on balance, we have not made progress in the work-place over the last two decades, largely because of rising unemployment, underemployment and involuntary overtime (though against this, real wages and average disposable incomes have risen, industrial disputes have fallen and the proportion of generally more interesting and responsible skilled work has grown dramatically). Peter Saunders, Ann Harding and David Johnson provide excellent explanations of the measurement of poverty and income inequality and their relevance to policy making.

These introductions to different disciplinary approaches to the measurement and interpretation of well-being, and the wealth of Australian data embedded in them, are the real focus and strength of the book. For me, however, the most important part of Measuring Progress is the attention it draws to the role of values and faith in understanding both 'the good society' and our movement toward this goal. A number of authors comment that progress is an inescapably normative idea, and that "we cannot measure something properly unless we can first describe it". Eckersley comments in his introduction that the widespread belief in material progress often distracts us from "the personal, social, and spiritual relationships that give our lives a moral texture and sense of meaning-of self-worth, belonging, identity, purpose and hope", and suggests that, at "the most fundamental level", the pursuit of progress or sustainable development faces us "with a question of values, which shape our priorities, and the need for a fundamental change in our world view" .

Unfortunately, these issues of values and world view are not seriously explored in the remainder of the book, remaining beneath the surface of most of the contributions. There are a few notable exceptions. Eva Cox, for example, argues that the practice of public trust is the currency of community and that, unlike most resources, this trust grows as it is used (just like the magic pudding in Lindsay's Australian folk tale). More specifically, Mike Salvaris extends on some of Halstead's ideas, arguing that citizenship is the substance of progress and advocating a communitarian ideal of citizenship extending beyond a statement of rights and responsibilities to involve "a practical emphasis on social inclusion and community membership . . . strongly grounded in the ethical values of the good society and the democratic values of the republic". Wearing and Headey connect with the same vein from the opposite direction, drawing attention to empirical studies indicating that religious belief or a sense of spiritual commitment is strongly (and positively) associated with individual well-being, as are self-esteem, hope and the ability to understand and interpret the world.

Taken together, Measuring Progress provides an excellent and authoritative source book on the state of the nation, and is probably the most impressive survey of its kind in the world (the other contenders would be Nussbaum and Sen [eds] The Quality of Life [Clarendon Press, 1993] and the series of UNDP Human Development Reports [Oxford University Press] which began in 1990). Yet the purpose of the book and its real significance is flagged by the persistent question of the sub-title: "Is life getting better?" Ethical reflection on the nature of 'the good society' in Australia is an essential part of our public dialogue on this topic. But realising our dreams requires more. I have to agree with Eckersley when he suggests that technological advance and increasing prosperity "amount to a treadmill to nowhere", but that even once we recognise this "it is extremely difficult to get off". Addressing this addiction requires us to be open to a spiritual transformation.

Steve Hatfield Dodds is a philosophical economist who has published a number of articles on the idea of sustainable development and the linkages between economic activity, environmental quality and human well-being.