In a speech marking the first anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called on his fellow world leaders to embrace new methods for measuring economic progress. Sarkozy's appeal to abandon gross domestic product in favor of statistics such as leisure time, health-care availability, and environmental sustainability draws on the recommendations of two Nobel Prize-winning economists, but others in their field greeted the suggestion with skepticism.
See "Sarkozy wants happiness used as economic indicator", Emma Vandore, September 16, 2009