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Forget GDP — We Need Numbers That Matter for the Questions We Have

Harvard Business Review

No single number has become more central to society in the past 50 years than GDP — Gross Domestic Product. government released its revised estimate for GDP for the last three months of 2013. The limitations of GDP have long been recognized. Academics have also joined the post-GDP party. This past Friday, the U.S.

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The False Choice Between Automation and Jobs

Harvard Business Review

The jobs gained will require higher educational attainment and more advanced levels of communication and cognitive ability, as work requiring rote skills such as data processing or collection increasingly are taken over by machines. Broadly distributing income gains will then translate productivity growth into GDP growth.

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Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce, and World

Harvard Business Review

We all know that education is an investment — but it’s not solely a personal one. The prosperity of nations and the health of economies is linked to the educational attainment levels and size of a skilled workforce. This was a major theme at the Global Education & Skills Forum last week in Dubai.

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Four Major Changes in Global Prosperity

Harvard Business Review

Of course economic success is important –- most obviously in providing citizens with the things that make life better (healthcare, education, etc.) -– but only up to a point. Put simply, what’s good for increasing GDP may not be good for the long-term betterment of society. Wealth alone does not make for a happy and successful society.

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The Ice Bucket Challenge Won’t Solve Charity’s Biggest Problem

Harvard Business Review

We must aspire to a statistically significant increase in charitable giving as a percentage of GDP. was $ 335 billion in 2013 , but only about 15% of that, or $50 billion, went to health and human services causes – 85% went to religion, higher education and hospitals. $50 Charitable giving in the U.S.

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Turkey Badly Needs a Long-Term Plan for Syrian Refugees

Harvard Business Review

In 2014, the “Foreigners under Temporary Protection” regulation granted refugees free access to public services such as education and health care. One survey showed 80% of refugees residing outside of refugee camps have eight years of education or less. That’s one reason why Turkey’s GDP grew by 2.9%

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The Three Reforms China Must Enact: Land, Social Services, and Taxes

Harvard Business Review

The plan is expected to outline policies intended to ensure that China continues to see average annual GDP growth of 7% through this decade, the growth rate required to meet Premier Li Keqiang’s stated goal of doubling GDP by 2020. What Needs to Change.

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