The report from the French Commission on the Economic Performance and the Social Progress, which was called by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been officially handed out to the President on September 14th, 2009.

The commission was led by Joseph E. Stiglitz (Colombia University, USA), Amartya Sen (Harward University, USA) and Jean-Paul Fitoussi (Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, France). The commission included scientists from all boards (Economy, Social sciences, Health, Statistics) and specialists covering a wide range from Finances to Global Warming.

The report (written in French) is addressed to:

• political leaders,
• operators whishing to implement policies promoting social progress,
• academics and statisticians
• CSO of all countries (rich and poor), the general public of all societies.

As such the CSOs involved in Fair Trade activities should be aware of the general content of the report. Indeed this report is probably setting a new era in the perception of human activities.

The report is highly critical on the present national wealth indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, which does not reflect truly the material well-being of the individual in its social, economic and environmental surrounding. It also highlights the discrepancy that may exist between the present level of well-being and its sustainability.

The report calls for new concepts and new tools in the assessment of the level of development of a nation as well as the level of well-being of its citizens. It emphasizes the need to develop new concepts in order to objectivise in a dynamic way the (subjective) perception of individuals about their well-being, which may change in time along with the evolution of their socio-economic and environmental surroundings.

Geo Fair Trade is presently involved in setting new indicators, objectivising and fine tuning pre-existing concepts. How far can Fair Trade help anticipating the development of those indicators that the "Stiglitz Commission" is calling for?

To read the Report: http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/fr/index.htm(The report is in French)