There are three problems with the above set of reasonings. First, conventional indices of the standard of living pertain to commodity production, not to the natural-resource base onwhich production depends. Statistics on pastmovements ofworld (or regional) income and agricultural production say nothing about this base. They don’t say if increases in GNP per head in a country aren’t being realized by means of a depletion of natural capital (., ecosystem functioning). It could be, for example, that increases in agricultural production are in part accomplished by "mining" soil and water. In relying on GNP and other current-welfare measures, such as life expectancy at birth, infant survival, and.
