Book notes: The measure of progress: counting what really matters, by Diane Coyle
The book offers important insights into national income data compilation that are frequently ignored by economists, says Geoffrey Wood
Diane Coyle, The measure of progress: counting what really matters, Princeton University Press, 2025, 306 pages
Economists often neglect data. Not in the sense that they do not use it, but in the sense that they do not think about it. Where has it come from? Why was it collected? In some cases, it is even important to ask who paid for the collection? Only when such questions have been posed and answered is it prudent to go on and use the data for economic investigation.
Examples of careful and
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