I think the reason why GDP remains so popular is political. It is both easy to measure and highly responsive to the few “knobs and buttons” that policy makers have to control the economy. To switch to a more complex metric could make it more difficult for politicians to assess the effectiveness of their policies (and to criticize those of competitors). Therefore, any credible substitute for GDP should (1) make it very easy for politicians to compare their performance with others, and (2) be almost instantly responsive to policy inputs.