GNP is the wrong metric for the job.

Our leaders are using the GNP as the leading indicator that they are doing the right thing for us economically. Here is what Robert Kennedy said about the GNP.

The gross national product includes air pollution and advertising for cigarettes and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. GNP includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm, and missiles and nuclear warheads... it does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, or the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.

There is an alternative metric out there called the GPI or Genuine Progress Indicator which makes things like war and pollution negatives on the scorecard, as they should be. It also makes things like volunteer work, and raising children positives on the scorecard, as they should be. While US GNP has steadily increased over the years our GPI peaked in 1980 and has since gone down. It is time our leaders measured themselves against a better metric.