The Measure of Economies: Measuring Productivity in an Age of Technological Change [Hardcover]

Innovative new approaches for improving GDP measurement to better gauge economic productivity.

Official measures of gross domestic product (GDP) indicate that productivity growth has declined in the United States over the last two decades. This has led to calls for policy changes from pro-business tax reform to stronger antitrust measures. But are our twentieth-century economic methodsactuallymeasuring our twenty-first-century productivity?

The Measure of Economiesoffers a synthesis of the state of knowledge in productivity measurement at a time when many question the accuracy and scope of GDP. With chapters authored by leading economic experts on topics such as the digital economy, health care, and the environment, it highlights the inadequacies of current practices and discusses cutting-edge alternatives.

Pragmatic and forward-facing,The Measure of Economiesis an essential resource not only for social scientists, but also for policymakers and business leaders seeking to understand the complexities of economic growth in a time of rapidly evolving technology.

Marshall B. Reinsdorfis a former senior economist with the International Monetary Fund.Louise Sheineris a senior fellow at the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.Editors’ Introduction
   Marshall B. Reinsdorf and Louise Sheiner
1. GDP as a Measure of Economic Well-Being
   Karen Dynan and Louise Sheiner
2. The Measurement of Output, Prices, and Productivity: What’s Changed Since the Boskin Commission
   Brent R. Moulton
3. Intangible Investment: What It Is and Why It Matters
   Carol Corrado
4. Productivity Measurement: New Goods, Variety, and Quality Change
   Diane Coyle
5. The Digital Economy and Productivity
   David M. Byrne
6. Measuring Prices and Productivity in the Heallc$