Comments on Arrow et al., ‘Sustainability and the measurement of wealth’

The Arrow et al. paper is a welcome addition to a large literature on the linkage between asset values and social welfare. This literature has its roots in the concern about ‘greening’ the national accounts, but the paper shows how expanding the asset boundary beyond produced and natural goods could increase our measures of income, saving and wealth enormously. I will comment in turn on the wealth accounts, investment accounts and the treatment of CO2 emissions, using selected World Bank figures as a basis for comparison.