 As part of his investigation into why economic policies so frequently worsened the ecological situation , in the 1980s Cobb decided to re @-@ evaluate Gross National Product ( GNP ) and Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) as measures of economic progress . Together with his son , Clifford Cobb , he developed an alternative model , the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare ( ISEW ) , which sought to " consolidate economic , environmental , and social elements into a common framework to show net progress . " The name of the metric would later change to Genuine Progress Indicator ( GPI ) . A recent ( 2013 ) article has shown that global GPI per capita peaked in 1978 , meaning that the social and environmental costs of economic growth have outweighed the benefits since that time . 
