I would first like to applaud Commissioner Adams for developing this method to get input from constituents. True democracy requires much more of us than voting in elections. We have forgotten that the original intent of our democracy was to facilitate citizen participation in their own governance. This website is a very effective way to accomplish that.

This approach can apply equally well to economics. The best measure of economic success is the degree to which every citizen is able to participate in economic life.

As an economist, I am very familiar with the shortcomings of the typical measures of economic well-being, like growth in aggregate output or income. Those measures simply don't work in the current context of the widening gulf between income and assets of the rich and the poor.

I would encourage everyone to think outside of the old paradigm of growth and devise measures that a majority of Portlanders really care about- then track their rate of change over time- such as:

1. housing affordability/ accessibility
2. proportion of workers earning a living wage
3. proportion of workers covered by health insurance
4. proportion of workers who own assets that exceed their annual income
5. proportion of population living below the poverty line
6. proportion of children living below the poverty line
7. proportion of population gaining access to higher education

This would require a refocusing of energy toward efforts that improve the economic status of individuals and families, which is what truly defines economic success.