A new tool, the Minnesota progress indicator, has been developed to aid in measuring Minnesota’s progress toward achieving a healthy, sustainable economy. Based on Minnesota Milestones goals, the progress indicator is a set of 42 economic, environmental and community measures that collectively provide a more realistic and comprehensive way to gauge the state's progress toward smart growth and sustainable development. Measures such as the gross state product that focus exclusively on economic activity may erroneously paint a rosy picture, even when the environment and communities may be under stress.
Indicators provide a tangible basis for tracking and understanding progress. In addition, what gets measured tends to get done. If the wrong things are tracked, the resulting impression of progress may be wrong as well. Without appropriate indicators, unrecognized success may not be rewarded or repeated, and even the lessons of failure can be lost.
An effective indicator tends to measure progress fundamental to the resilience and viability of a company or community. It demonstrates links between the environment and the economic and social elements of an issue; it does not measure only one side of this three-sided equation. It is based on reliable and timely information, is understandable and accepted by the people in the community, and is long-term.
The Minnesota progress indicator is based on the belief that Minnesota's economy can be healthy in the long run only if its environment and communities are healthy. The measures used in computing the progress indicator help determine if the economy is being improved at the expense of Minnesota’s communities or environment. The progress indicator is simple yet comprehensive. It can be viewed as a composite index, or the measures comprising it can be examined separately to reveal the progress or decline of various aspects of the economy, environment and communities.
The Minnesota progress indicator is described in Smart Signals: Economics for Lasting Progress. A detailed assessment of measures comprising the progress indicator is discussed in An Assessment of Progress Indicators.
The Minnesota progress indicator was inspired by the genuine progress indicator, an alternative to the gross domestic product first proposed in 1995 by Redefining Progress. A Minnesota application of the genuine progress indicator was tested in developing the Minnesota progress indicator. For the latest developments on the national genuine progress indicator, see the Redefining Progress web site.