The basis of the comparisons is one of the things I want to look at in a little detail. It's pretty widely accepted that GDP is a bad way of comparing economies since it pretty much rewards wasteful and destructive activities.
See Blair's speech today in another diary. He almost explicitly repeats the assumption that an economy with good metrics will be good socially.
More food for thought from Gar Alperovitz... on the idea that "wealth should benefit the community directly." The difference between theory and practise in practise ...
