Genuine progress indicator
Most economists assess progress in people's welfare by comparing the gross domestic product over time—that is, by adding up the annual dollar value of all goods and services produced within a country over successive years. However, GDP was not intended to be used for such purpose. It is prone to productivism or consumerism, over-valuing production and consumption of goods, and not reflecting improvement in human well-being. It also does not distinguish between money spent for new production and money spent to repair negative outcomes from previous expenditure. For example, it would treat as equivalent one million dollars spent to build new homes and one million dollars spent in aid relief to those whose homes have been destroyed, despite these expenditures arguably not representing the same kind of progress. This is relevant for example when considering the true costs of development that destroys wetlands and hence exacerbate flood damages. Simon Kuznets, the inventor of the concept of GDP, noted in his first report to the US Congress in 1934:the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income. If the GDP is up, why is America down? Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth, between costs and returns, and between the short and long run. Goals for more growth should specify more growth of what and for what.
Modified gross national income
By 2014, Irish GDP had inflated to 130% of Irish GNI, whereas for the EU–28 aggregate , GDP is equal to GNI. In October 2016, Ireland announced that GDP rose 26.3% in 2015, implying Irish GDP was over 150% of Irish GNI. The 2015 growth was due to Apple's Q1 2015 restructuring of its hybrid–double Irish BEPS tool, then under investigation by the EU Commission for illegal avoidance of Irish taxes during 2004–2014, into a new capital allowances for intangible assets Irish BEPS tool (known as the "Green Jersey"). Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugman, labeled the 2015 GDP growth, since revised to 34.4%, as "leprechaun economics".