Forward Thinking on measuring GDP and productivity with Diane Coyle

Forward Thinking

“Digital is changing the way that we create value in society. Where in value chains does that happen? Who gets the benefits? And is there a gap between what we measure in dollars and the economic welfare, the benefits, that people can get from these digital services? There's a wedge opening up between the categories and the dollar values that we can assign to activities and the benefits that people are getting and who is getting those benefits, as well.”

Diane Coyle is known for her critique of how economic activity has been measured and valued. She’s written about how transactions are counted in dollars, but that accounting really leaves out important things like physical resources, intellectual resources, and valuable activity that isn't traded for money.

In this episode, we speak to hear to understand more about why this matters, how to rectify this measurement, and whether she’s optimistic about the future after COVID-19.

This conversation was recorded in February 2021.

To read a transcript of this episode, visit: mck.co/forwardthinking

Follow @McKinsey_MGI on Twitter and the McKinsey Global Institute on LinkedIn for more.

See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information