The paper addresses the use of indicators as global standards for development. It discusses how the introduction of new measures such as well-being bears on the following problem: Development indicators are supposed to be tools for guiding countries into the right way to the future. At the same time, they are produced in “today’s” present, by experts who are deeply involved in the problems of their day. But what is a problem today maybe unproblematic tomorrow; and what is taken for granted today may be lacking under future conditions.
Can, then, development indicators at all identify conditions for ensuring the quality of future living conditions – or are they a quickly obsolete extrapolation from an ephemeral historical present? Is there any range of choice towards the overwhelming present in the selection of indicators, and (how) can this range be used for identifying indicators that will be useful in the future?
