Vibhav Goel

Personal Tagline

“I believe the best measure of an economy is not what it produces, but what it allows its people to become.”

Why Economics?

Economics is the study of choices — how societies allocate scarce resources, how incentives shape behaviour, and how policies change lives. I am drawn to economics because it sits at the intersection of mathematics, philosophy, and real human outcomes. A single policy decision can lift millions out of poverty or entrench inequality for a generation. Understanding that machinery is, to me, the most powerful tool for improving the world.

Why This Project?

I first encountered the “beyond GDP” debate while reading Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom. Sen argues that development should be measured by what people can actually do and be — their capabilities — not just their income. That idea changed how I saw the news: every time GDP growth was reported as “good news,” I wondered — good for whom? This project is my attempt to make that question tangible and interactive.

Research Journey

I started by reading the foundational texts — Sen, the Stiglitz Commission, the OECD Better Life Index methodology. Then I began collecting data. The World Bank’s open data portal was a revelation: decades of cross-country indicators, free to download. I organised the information so that it could be explored easily. Every chart in this project answers a question I genuinely had.

Skills Gained