Bauer rejected GDP per capita statistics as misleading measures of development

Evidence

Bauer thus introduced a normative dimension in support of capitalist development requiring qualitative analysis. He conceived of a need to distance himself from positivistic measurement because of wealth per capita statistics (which Gunnar Myrdal and other “planners” relied on), which he considered arbitrary in regard to the division of rich and poor, and slighting real income “not subject to easy measurement, especially when human satisfactions are taken into account” (Bauer 1958a, 142). Bauer opposed the notion that developing countries were locked into poverty (as statistics seemed to indicate): “nations, like individuals, are constantly moving up and down in the scale, and it is the final trend that counts” (2). He also argued that statistics were misleading because they misrepresented development progress (better health, etc.) that could lead to worsening per capita income figures. Instead of the “colossal aggregate,” he proposed considering the “enormous diversity of the areas in question” (Bauer 1958a, 142–143). — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 1316

Categorization

• XREF: Bauer’s attack on aggregate statistics and the ‘lock-in’ poverty narrative presages development economics debates against the ‘big push’ and dependency theory. — connects to: Bauer rejected the premise of equal human economic capacity underpinning the NIEO. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 435; Irish GDP is inflated by multinational profit-shifting and overstates national output — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 767; Bauer rejected the developed-underdeveloped dichotomy and vicious-cycle-of-poverty analysis as fallacious — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1314 (+1 more)
• SEED: An essay angle: how a statistic (GDP per capita) became an ideology — Bauer’s early challenge to the measurement regime that still governs development policy.