Beyond arithmetic

THE fiscal year that just ended has brought real GDP growth of 3.7 per cent — the fastest in four years. Yet ask the median household and the answer will not match the national accounts. Both are telling the truth. The distance between them is the most consequential number in Pakistani economic policy — and we do not officially measure it. Call that missing number ‘welfare GDP growth’: what expansion actually reaches households, rather than what is produced within our borders. Four honest adjust...