We may be even richer than Peter Kellner thinks ("We are richer than you think", 19 February).
Why not simply extend the idea of revealing and accounting for hidden contributions to our economy to less illegal, more obvious and more widely engaged-in activities than Kellner's prostitution, drug-dealing and illegal gaming - for instance, housework, child and family care and voluntary work in the community?
If I pay someone to look after my children or elders, it gets accounted for in national statistics. If I do it myself, the value remains (and may even be enhanced) but isn't accounted for. Developing this idea will make clear that homemakers and parents caring for children not involved in paid work outside the home are making a contribution to the economy. This would immediately alter the terms and the content of much current debate in this area.
Similarly, if the contribution of voluntary workers was statistically acknowledged and valued, we'd not only be richer, we'd have to change the way we think about such activities.
At one level, central government is already making this shift in thinking. John Prescott's white paper, Modern Local Government: in touch with the people, takes seriously the need for voluntary sector involvement in local government partnerships to promote and enhance our "economic, social and environmental well-being".
Acknowledging the economic value of these contributions will enhance the status of voluntary work in and out of the home, validate its necessity for our well-being, encourage those who make these choices, or who have no other choice, and help to make practical sense of Third Way ideas.
David Browning
London W1
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