Measure Well-Being to Improve It

Every nation’s performance rating should consider unbiased measures of citizens’ well-being.

Powerful disruptions, for example due to rapidly advancing technology, are forcing governments to plan for ways to protect their citizens’ quality of life. Just as savvy businesses are moving away from a product focus toward one that emphasizes the user experience, governments must reorient themselves toward people’s realities. For example, New Zealand has created a “well-being budget” that covers mental health, the evolution toward a low-emissions economy and other areas of the public good. The Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA) monitors how adeptly governments translate their wealth...