In Chatham-Kent we need more jobs, more economic growth, more economic creativity, more investment, more people, just about more everything. Getting there is the hard part. That new mystery refinery north of Wallaceburg might help. However, pardon the pun Randy, we’ve lived on hope too long. Fostering a better economic way in this area should be everybody’s priority.
Measuring our progress along the way will be telling. I’m not sure if Chatham-Kent measures its GDP and compares it from year to year. Interestingly enough, I’ve read recently about a new measure called the CIW, or the Canadian Index of Well-Being. It measures a new set of numbers more attune to the individual well being of ordinary citizens.
The Canadian Index of Well-Being would be a measure of several things, which would be able to truly tell us whether we are better off than we once were. It would measure a broad range of things like the availability of health care, literacy rates, the quality of air and water, the costs of sufficient housing and the value of unpaid work. It would also attempt to measure policies, which eliminate poverty, education spending and preventative health care spending. These are all things, which have a huge economic impact on all of us, but GDP misses it.
Think of the CIW as a socio-economic number, which you can understand. For instance if I told you the value of the Canada’s GNP for 2006 you’d have to compare it to last year to see if the value of all goods and services produced had changed. It’s always confusing and not really palatable to the vast number of people who don’t have a working knowledge of economics. The hope is for the CIW to be different and much more understandable.
So think of it this way. Maybe someday I’ll be writing a column about raising the Canadian CIW to a 9 from an 8 or maybe even reach out and get a 14 someday. Readers then might in turn understand what that means for their lives and their children lives. As of now GDP is just a number for the purveyors of the dismal science. The point being CIW would be a more socially conscious way of measuring economic benefits. As it is now, cleaning up from a tornado or an ice storm can actually raise the GDP number.
There are also other measures, which take a different tack at measuring economic benefit. Think of all the environmental talk currently going on within our society. Keep in mind; negative effects on our environment ultimately have a negative effect on our economy. There is a relatively new term called EA-GNP, which is going to be increasingly used by my economist cousins to measure economic activity. As GNP is a measure of the goods and services produced in an economy, the EA-GNP stands for an environmentally adjusted gross national product. This takes into account the negative effect of pollution, in the economy. And in effect, it is a better measure of the true economic activity in the country.
Some of you might be sleeping by now. Hopefully, you’re still with me. Remember, economists love this stuff and I’m no different. These different measurements give a specific certainty to very vague economic terms. It has a specific resonance for those of us in Chatham-Kent.
Think of it this way. I live near the town of Dresden. I work near my home. It’s a tranquil, but at the same time a very busy way of life. Others in Dresden make the short drive to work whether that’s in town or in Chatham, Wallaceburg or Sarnia. On the other hand I’ve got friends who have a grueling commute 2.5 hours every day one way to Toronto to work. What is there CIW compared to mine? I’d say mine is better. Others might argue urban choices lead to a better CIW.
I’d wager Chatham-Kent’s CIW is high compared to places in the GTA. Our way of life might be better for us economically. However, at the end of the day that might not be the case. Better access to health and education services in the GTA might make us lag behind.
The answer to that riddle is blowing in the wind. However, measuring economic growth differently has resonance with me. Putting a value on health care access, literacy, exposure to pollution and a host of other measures is very important. Making it as important as GDP in terms of economic measurement would only make government economic policy better. And at the end of the day, maybe it would help make the economic reality on the ground for Canadian families a much richer experience.