Comments on: Standing Up for GDP

By: Why normal politics is inefficient compared to social and technological innovation « Robert Wiblin

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:04:21 +0000

[...] For those who doubt the benefits of higher productivity, have a read of Will Wilkinson on GDP. [...]

By: angelia110

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By: Andrew Norton » Blog Archive » Defending GDP

Andrew Norton » Blog Archive » Defending GDP — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:39:11 +0000

[...] to national progress or individual happiness. But one reason that it is a very useful statistic is, as Will Wilkinson points out, that it correlates with other statistics that get closer to progress, such as levels of health and [...]

By: Le Produit Intérieur Brut N’est Aucun Bon « Around The Sphere

Le Produit Intérieur Brut N’est Aucun Bon « Around The Sphere — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:44:15 +0000

[...] UPDATE: Will Wilkinson [...]

By: Filip

Filip — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:49:06 +0000

GDP isn't only correlated with life satisfaction or happiness; also with lower levels of corruption, infant mortality rates and poverty, increases in respect for the rule of law and the principles of democracy, higher life expectancy and better education etc. (there's a list here).

By: TracyW

TracyW — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:51:40 +0000

Why would GDP imply the reverse?
There appears to be a contradiction in your statements, you say that in your second hypothetical world the "exact same supply of stuff" is produced but you also say that everyone who can't buy books downloads free copies. But if they can't download free copies in your first hypothetical world, then obviously the supply of stuff is slightly different between the two worlds, in the second the supply of electronic books is higher than in the first. Perhaps GDP as currently measured by statisticians can't take measure the value of the downloaded copies of books, but that's a measurement problem, it's not a problem with the concept of GDP.

Anyway, if we ignore the downloaded free books issue and assume that the exact supply of stuff is the same in both worlds, then GDP would be the same in both worlds. We wouldn't be able to use GDP to distinguish between the 8 hours worked a day world and the 1 hour worked a day. But why is that a big problem with GDP? A ruler can't tell you the difference in mass between two objects that occupy the same volume of space but weigh different amounts, that doesn't mean that rulers have an important problem with them, it just means that you need a set of scales instead to measure mass.

By: x_trapnel

x_trapnel — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:36:41 +0000

Oh, meant to link to John Quiggin's two little pieces that are sort of on-topic: one, two.

By: x_trapnel

x_trapnel — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:34:26 +0000

I think Thorfinn's point is an important one, but setting that aside for a moment:

I always thought the more important problem with GDP was that: 1., non-priced things & experiences have always been quite important, and; 2., there's reason theoretically to expect increasing leisure with wealth, tho obvs. this hasn't happened in the US lately; 3., an increasing amount of value is being generated through things that aren't intrinsically rivalrous (cultural things, software, scientific things). A world in which everyone works 8 hr. days, and half of them can afford to buy books, is *far* worse than a world in which everyone works 1 hr days to produce the exact same supply of stuff, except that now everyone who can't pay downloads free copies of the books instead; GDP would imply the reverse. But then, I'm overly fixated on IP issues.

By: Maggie's Farm

Maggie's Farm — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:05:44 +0000

Friday morning links…

500,000,000 year-old photos from Hubble. It’s the "Butterfly nebula"
If you haven’t seen those ACORN videos yet, here they are. Why am I not surprised?
10 questions to ask your Congresscritter, with a sample letter. Villainous
…

By: Twitter Trackbacks for Standing Up for GDP [willwilkinson.net] on Topsy.com

Twitter Trackbacks for Standing Up for GDP [willwilkinson.net] on Topsy.com — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:56:22 +0000

[...] Standing Up for GDP http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2009/09/09/standing-up-for-gdp – view page – cached Joseph Stiglitz is right. GDP per capita is an inadequate measure of a country’s prevailing standard of living for many reasons. If you want one number, something like median real consumption would be better. But I’m willing to stand up for GDP per capita as a rough and ready indicator of well-being within the bounds of nation states. Why? — From the page [...]

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 23:16:45 +0000

When the GDP numbers indicate a recovered economy, yet the recovery is essential a “jobless” one – i.e. all the millions dumped from productive employment in the last year remain under- or unemployed, then GDP is an inadequate measure of an economy's success.

By: Steve M.

Steve M. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:39:02 +0000

I, for one, miss the incredibly snarky liveblogging. The world will never know what Will Wilkinson would have written, in the heat of the moment, about Joe Wilson.

By: passdegnå

passdegnå — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:57:54 +0000

you have reminded me of a long deferred project of mine: getting uncritical references to the easterlin paradox out of my norwegian undergraduate textbooks

By: Quote of the day « Econstudentlog

Quote of the day « Econstudentlog — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:03:26 +0000

[...] Will Wilkinson. [...]

By: DMonteith

DMonteith — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:03:30 +0000

Environmental concerns could be addressed by measuring the value of the stock of environmental assets (this is hard, but doable in principle)...

Yes, but it suits Will just fine to keep "indeterminate environmental threats" as indeterminate as possible and hope that nobody notices what effect that has on his definition of success.

Seriously, I don't blame him. Takedowns of notorious idiots like Thomas Friedman are much more fun than the hard, but doable in principal, work of addressing and refuting Georgescu-Roegen or Daly or Costanza.