Not strictly economic, but personally I quite like the idea of gross national happiness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness http://en.wikiped

Not strictly economic, but personally I quite like the idea of gross national happiness: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_national_happiness On the more economic side, you have something like the Misery Index and its extensions (http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/misery-mena http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/misery-mena). Obviously composite indexes like these have their flaws too, but overall they are more comprehensive than GDP alone.