Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Dear Amrote

I think I should be 'following' you more closely. You seem to be on the fast track to being in a useful place for society and I wish you well.

I am plodding along ... rather more slowly ... but still very committed to the idea that with our amazing modern technology and a world where a whole lot more people are 'educated' than 50 years ago, we should be able to have a pretty wonderful world. The fact that there is so much violence and shortage is an measure of how the world's leadership has failed.

My agenda remains the idea that better metrics would help ... specifically getting away from metrics based on money profit and money economics to a more human and social system. I am advocating for accounting that embraces both the money profit dimension and a social valuadd component. In the TrueValueMetrics initiative these are both in the same system and apply not only to organizations but also to communities. Muhammad Yunus has called for such a system of accounting and many are working in a similar space.

There is also the crisis of growth and in this context the use of GDP as a key metric of social performance. Bhutan and GDH (Happiness) is better. UNDP years ago introduced the Human Development Report (and an Index) to balance the World Bank and their World Development Report which was more money economy oriented.

All of this is good ... but not sufficient. In my view the link between the measures and the needed actions are too 'fuzzy' ... that is why I want metrics that are more accounting than economics and attached to both an organization (economic activity) and a place.

OOPS ...

I really just wanted to say HELLO!