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The Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) is built on mainstream sustainability economics, where sustainability is defined as a sum of capital assets weighted according to their supposed contribution to intergenerational wellbeing. The IWI will likely play an important role in the pursuit of sustainable development. I give a critical assessment of the indicator and its underlying framework. My analysis reveals major methodological, epistemological and political problems. I show that these shortcomings are not captured by the usual criteria used to assess statistical quality, for the latter are based on a positivist epistemology. I conclude with the need to develop an alternative epistemology to evaluate sustainability indicators.