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This is gonna be a tough pill to swallow for a guy who pores over ballistics charts, but...
The best indicator of a cartridge's "killing" power is -- a long-established reputation.
There is no numerical system that can predict killing power for two reasons: there is no way to predict the precise way a bullet will expand (or not), and there's no way to predict how an animal will react to the hit (or not).
Other very important factors include just where the bullet hits, what path it takes through the animal, how far from the hunter the hit takes place, the physical state of the animal when it was hit, and (for all I know) the hunter's horoscope.
That's why the classic cartridges are better: they have a proven track record on certain classes of animals. "New and Improved" rounds (or bullet designs) just haven't proven themselves yet.
Look at the .17 HMR for example. It's only been out a short time, and people have tried using it on critters from mice to coyotes. I think there was even a thread here about using it on wild hogs! But the rapidly growing consensus is that it is a sure killer ONLY on animals the size of jack rabbits and smaller. Not even dainty fox are reliably killed with it, not to mention tough critters like badgers or coyotes.
On the other hand, there's the 270 that Evan mentioned. Thoroughly understood and known, it is a superb round with more than adequate killing power for anything up to elk.
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