The Measure of Economies - by Marshall B Reinsdorf & Louise Sheiner (Hardcover)

About the Book

"How do we measure economic productivity if not by GDP? Traditional economic methods, including GDP, tell us that productivity has slowed dramatically in the US and other developed economies over the last two decades. This has led to calls for all manner of government interventions, including revised tax policies and the strengthening of antitrust measures to increase competition. But are our twentieth-century economic methods actually measuring our twenty-first-century productivity? The Measure of Economies offers a practical overview of measuring productivity in economics in a world where GDP is no longer a catch-all. With chapters authored by leading economic experts, it is at once an intervention against the insufficiency of old practices and a cutting-edge guide to their alternatives. It is an essential resource for social scientists and researchers for a century of change in the output of nations"--

Book Synopsis

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 methods actually measuring our twenty-first-century productivity?

The Measure of Economies offers 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 Economies is 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.

Review Quotes

"[These] papers explore the productivity measurement debate, considering problems facing price measurement and recommendations to statistical agencies about improvements and research that could be implemented and pursued."-- "Journal of Economic Literature"

"This is an important book about an immensely important topic--productivity measurement. The editorial and author team, comprising some of our strongest experts on the subject, have compiled a collection of chapters that is both eclectic and timely."-- "International Productivity Monitor"

"This work is yet another outstanding contribution from the University of Chicago Press to summarizing and synthesizing the state of knowledge about a specific economic subject. Editors Reinsdorf and Sheiner have assembled an impressive set of contributors...It would make excellent supplemental reading in graduate macroeconomics or economic statistics courses."-- "Choice"

"Measuring productivity does not catch the eye of headline writers, which is lamentable since productivity is a vital issue. Reinsdorf, Sheiner, and the all-star team they've assembled are to be congratulated on a book that lays out not only the shortcomings in the statistical system, but also its strengths and the obstacles that make improvements so difficult to achieve. This book will, I hope, inspire actions to fix some of the potholes in our current measurement methods."--Martin Neil Baily Brookings Institution

"Productivity growth is central to improvements in the well-being of a society. In recent years, there have been significant questions about the accuracy of our productivity measures. Sheiner, Reinsdorf, and their collaborators tackle those questions, laying out how the statistical agencies measure productivity, identifying where the problems with the measures lie and--importantly--suggesting possible steps towards improving them."--Katharine G. Abraham University of Maryland

About the Author

Marshall B. Reinsdorf is a former senior economist with the International Monetary Fund. Louise Sheiner is a senior fellow at the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.