The remedy to this problem was thought to be the development of systems of social statistics, built on a broader set of indicators of societal welfare. Early advocates, such as Mancur Olson, hoped that performance on Issues Associated with the Implementation of Performance Monitoring 9
these neglected measures might be reported regularly in a social report comparable in form to the Economic Report of the President(U.S. Department of Health Education 1969). Social reports, it was thought, would reveal “the social costs of growth” (Noll 1998) and change the course of policy making.Olson later said,