Yes, there are lots of things we can't attach value measures to that we know people do value.

It’s a cool idea. This way you try to tie economics to something real, like time and how long people actually live.

But it still has a blind spot. Even if you add life expectancy, you’re basically still reducing well-being to money.

A lot of what actually matters doesn’t fit into that—relationships, freedom, purpose, just enjoying life day to day. None of that shows up in “lifetime earnings.”

So yeah, it’s better than GDP, but it still doesn’t fully capture what living well really means.

Taft

There are metrics that attempt to do this, like the Human Development Index (HDI). The problem with these is that they impose more assumptions on people's preferences than just looking at economic activity.

Something I'd like to do at some point (or for someone else to do) is calculate expected lifetime earnings per capita for different places. That would incorporate health in the form of life expectancy.

econ

Our economic system is designed to make us unhappy

There are metrics that attempt to do this, like the Human Development Index (HDI). The problem with these is that they impose more assumptions on people's preferences than just looking at economic activity.

Something I'd like to do at some point (or for someone else to do) is calculate expected lifetime earnings per capita for different places. That would incorporate health in the form of life expectancy.