Although it is preferable to focus on the national income (after taking into account the consumption of natural capital and the corresponding social cost) and on the inequality of its distribution, rather than confining ourselves to the GDP and to averages, that is nonetheless not sufficient. In fact, no matter what monetary value is assigned to the social cost of carbon emissions or other externalities (a generic term used by economists to designate the undesirable effects of economic activities such as warming, air pollution, or traffic jams), this unidimensional type of monetary accounting does not make it possible to correctly take into account either the damage done or the stakes involved.