The inadequacies of Gross Domestic Product

1) humanity is collectively but unequally using natural resources far in excess of the planet’s ability to regenerate them; 2) when nations focus exclusively on GDP as a measure of progress it creates an unsustainable race for more and more consumption, leading to that resource depletion; and 3) there are alternative measurements, factoring out the effects of environmental degradation, which if more widely and publicly employed would help both individuals and nations make more environmentally friendly economic decisions.

Matthew McDermott in a good article on GDP and its alternatives, on Treehugger.