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Since its emergence in the 1930s, per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been a proxy for our personal well-being. In short, our happiness.

Now two Nobel-laureate economists, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, have called for clarity about what passes for well-being. Their landmark report, submitted this week to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is an impassioned plea to politicians and economists for a broader vision:

Just as money can't buy happiness, per capita GDP can't measure it.

A new report, The Economic Crisis through the Lens of Economic Wellbeing, released on July 29th by the Institute of Wellbeing, says that the current recession will erase many of the economic and standard of living gains made since the mid-1990s. Unemployment and poverty will likely continue to rise and stay at high levels for years.