The paper deals with the problem of how to define and measure welfare, which can be seen either as a part of social policy or as a state of mind. Central to the discussion is the question, whether GDP can be used as a measure of welfare. Descriptive methods are used, besides of statistical estimations. A sample of authors which discuss the relation between GDP and welfare are presented.

The paper discusses differences between large and small countries regarding prosperity and other economic aspects. Countries are defined as large when GDP and population is large and when they can influence other countries economically. Prosperity is defined as GDP pc.