When running for president in 1968, Robert Kennedy took aim at US economic statistics. Gross national product, he said, counted pollution, cigarette advertising, locks on doors and the destruction of forests among a long list of social evils. It failed to measure important things in society such as the joy of poetry or the strength of marriages. “It measures everything?.?.?.?except that which makes life worthwhile and it can tell everything about America except why we are proud we are Americans,” he said.

Though little noticed at the time, this short section of his campaign speech has now become the battle cry of many diverse campaign groups.

Some claim that GNP, or gross domestic product — the equivalent within a country’s borders — measure the wrong things because they put a value on the goods and services produced and purchased in an economy. This week’s Dasgupta Review of the economics of biodiversity said GDP is “wholly unsuitable?.?.?.?for identifying sustainable development”. Others claim that as this data stands at the pinnacle of economic statistics, it gets too much weight by government and society. As the saying goes, “what is measured, counts”.