PhD defence by Paul Teule

Teule's research looks at the hypothesis that the dominance of GDP is closely connected to an outdated definition of ‘the economy’, arguing that GDP cannot be fundamentally problematised without questioning and ultimately transforming the underlying concept that it is intended to measure.

In a series of chapters, he investigates both the principal constitutive economic ideas and theories and the accounting practices — particularly GDP and the System of National Accounts — that have together produced a deeply institutionalised definition of The Economy and an equally institutionalised commitment to Economic Growth.

Although his thesis is intended foremost to explain the GDP paradox, in his conclusion he also presents four 'interventions' that may prove more effective in bringing about genuine change:

1. challenging the Economy-concept of the System of National Accounts on the basis of its own assumptions and internal logic
2. working towards a net variant of GDP
3. actively reclaiming the label ‘Economy’ on the basis of superior performance for society and the ecosystem
4. bypassing the language of ‘the economy’ and ‘growth' and articulating more precisely what it is that we actually seek to achieve and encouraging the development of a richer public vocabulary

Doctoral Board

Chair

Professor Karin Arts

Doctoral dissertation supervisors

Professor Irene van Staveren
Dr Dirk Philipsen

Full Doctoral Committee

Professor Esther-Mirjam Sent, Radboud University,
Dr Tazuko van Berkel, Leiden University
Professor Conrad Heilmann
Professor Lorenzo Pellegrini, ISS
Professor Andrew Fischer, ISS