W3 indicators

W3 indicators are an ensemble of indicators for prosperity and progress which, in contrast to the previous socio-economic indicator " gross domestic product " , are intended to represent potentially more meaningful indicators of prosperity and progress.

In Germany, the study commission on Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life - Paths to Sustainable Business and Social Progress in the Social Market Economy started its work in January 2011 . This study commission of the Bundestag was a body that had set itself the task of looking for a possible new measure of prosperity and progress - beyond the growth fixation of the gross national product , which was previously the dominant measure, and the costs that were previously not or insufficiently taken into account, e.g. B. the consumption of nature or the extinction of species . The commission is made up of seventeen MEPs from all political groups and seventeen experts.

One result of the commission are the W3 indicators, which, in contrast to the gross domestic product , are intended to represent holistic indicators of prosperity and progress.

Headline indicators

The W3 indicators contain ten headline indicators in three dimensions of prosperity:

1. Material prosperity:

• Gross domestic product (GDP) or GDP per capita
• Distribution of income
• National debt

2. Social and participation:

• employment
• education
• health
• freedom

3. Ecology :

• Greenhouse gases
• nitrogen
• biodiversity

A comparison with other countries is given by the fact that these are indicators that have already been collected by national and international institutions and that have high data quality.

In addition to these headline indicators, the study commission suggested nine additional indicators, so-called “warning lights”. These indicators complement the headline indicators and are only visible and analyzed if they develop negatively or exceed certain limit values.

See also

• Indicator (economy)
• Social indicators

Web links

• Karl Otto Sattler: With "W3" on sustainability management , Parliament , No. 17, April 22, 2013

• Inga Michler: The government ignores the expensive formula for happiness , Die Welt , April 30, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roland Pichler: We want to get away from the belief in growth Badische Zeitung online, section "Economy", January 12, 2011, accessed on January 23, 2011
2. ↑ How much information about prosperity can the public tolerate? ( Memento of the original from January 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, accessed on January 15, 2014 
3. ↑ “Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life”. Final report of the Enquete Commission of the German Bundestag (PDF), p. 237
4. ↑ Growth, prosperity and quality of life in the social market economy. In: Monthly Report. Federal Ministry of Finance, June 20, 2013, accessed on October 14, 2017 . 
5. ^ Final report of the Enquete Commission "Growth, Prosperity, Quality of Life - Paths to Sustainable Management and Social Progress in the Social Market Economy". In: Printed matter 17/13300. German Bundestag, May 3, 2013, accessed on October 14, 2017 .  P. 28.