GDP

This book explains GDP (gross domestic product) and describes its history, sets out its limitations,and defends it still as a key indicator for economic policy. It is certainly a better indicator than some of the fashionable alternatives (like ‘happiness') that have been proposed. I also ask whether GDP alone is still a good enough measure of economic performance - and conclude not. It is a measure designed for the 20th century economy of physical mass-production, not for the modern economy of rapid innovation and intangible, increasingly digital, services. How well the economy is doing is always going to be an important part of everyday politics, and we're going to need a better measure of ‘the economy' than today's GDP.

Diane Coyle runs Enlightenment Economics, a consulting firm specializing in technology and globalization. A vice-chair of the BBC Trust and a visiting professor at the University of Manchester, she holds a PhD in economics from Harvard.