Is It Time to Cancel GDP Growth Targets?

At a recent high-level economic symposium,the question of whether or not countries should set GDP growth targets became a hot topic of debate.Some economists pointed out that all of the world's developed countries and the majority of middleincome countries have abandoned GDP growth rates as a target of macroeconomic control.Should China follow suit?The practice of using GDP as a key measure of economic development is not flawless,and some experts therefore suggest it be abandoned.However,others believe the GDP index still has a role to play in China's economy,that doing away with it would impact wide-ranging aspects of Chinese society,and that identifying a substitute index is problematic.

Is It Time to Cancel GDP Growth Targets?

At a recent high-level economic symposium, the question of whether or not countries should set GDP growth targets became a hot topic of debate. Some economists pointed out that all of the world's developed countries and the majority of middleincome countries have abandoned GDP growth rates as a target of macroeconomic control. Should China follow suit?The practice of using GDP as a key measure of economic development is not flawless, and some experts therefore suggest it be abandoned. However, others believe the GDP index still has a role to play in China's economy, that doing away with it would impact wide-ranging aspects of Chinese society, and that identifying a substitute index is problematic.