The Power of a Single Number. A Political History of GDP

Since it was first widely used in the mid-twentieth century, GDP (gross domestic product) has become the world´s most powerful statistical indicator of national development and progress. Practically all governments adhere to the idea that GDP growth is a primary economic target, and while criticism of this measure has grown over the past decade, neither its champions nor its detractors deny its central importance in our political culture. In The Power of a Single Number, Philipp Lepenies tells the lively, unpredictable history of GDP´s political acceptance--and eventual dominance.