Eric Brynjolfsson

That would make sense. That's what people, when I go to Iceland, that's how people know me. It's true.

That would make sense. That's what people, when I go to Iceland, that's how people know me. It's true.

That's exactly right. Simon Kuznets and his team in the 1930s basically developed what we now use as our national accounts, GDP, productivity. It's all based on this system of accounts. Paul Samuels got one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. I agree, but it's also been massively abused and misused. Nowadays, if you see a headline, economy grew by 3.2%, they mean GDP increased by 3.2%.

That's exactly right. Simon Kuznets and his team in the 1930s basically developed what we now use as our national accounts, GDP, productivity. It's all based on this system of accounts. Paul Samuels got one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. I agree, but it's also been massively abused and misused. Nowadays, if you see a headline, economy grew by 3.2%, they mean GDP increased by 3.2%.

That's exactly right. Simon Kuznets and his team in the 1930s basically developed what we now use as our national accounts, GDP, productivity. It's all based on this system of accounts. Paul Samuels got one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. I agree, but it's also been massively abused and misused. Nowadays, if you see a headline, economy grew by 3.2%, they mean GDP increased by 3.2%.

And why is that an imprecise or not useful metric? GDP measures... basically everything that's bought and sold in the economy. What that means, with few exceptions, if something doesn't have a price, it's not counted in GDP. So we're missing a lot of important stuff, you know, clean air.

And why is that an imprecise or not useful metric? GDP measures... basically everything that's bought and sold in the economy. What that means, with few exceptions, if something doesn't have a price, it's not counted in GDP. So we're missing a lot of important stuff, you know, clean air.

And why is that an imprecise or not useful metric? GDP measures... basically everything that's bought and sold in the economy. What that means, with few exceptions, if something doesn't have a price, it's not counted in GDP. So we're missing a lot of important stuff, you know, clean air.

A classic problem is if I cook a meal for myself, that's not part of GDP, but if I hire somebody to cook it, or if somebody pays me to cook it, then it is part of GDP. So you have a lot of little weirdnesses like that, a lot of household productions out there. And one of the biggest ones, I'm the director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab,

A classic problem is if I cook a meal for myself, that's not part of GDP, but if I hire somebody to cook it, or if somebody pays me to cook it, then it is part of GDP. So you have a lot of little weirdnesses like that, a lot of household productions out there. And one of the biggest ones, I'm the director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab,

A classic problem is if I cook a meal for myself, that's not part of GDP, but if I hire somebody to cook it, or if somebody pays me to cook it, then it is part of GDP. So you have a lot of little weirdnesses like that, a lot of household productions out there. And one of the biggest ones, I'm the director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab,

All these digital goods that are often free, Wikipedia, search, Facebook, texting, email, if they have zero price, other than the electricity and a few other things, they're basically not counted in GDP. Yet people get a lot of value from them. Right now, the average American spends a little over eight hours per day looking at a screen of some sort, TV, computer, whatever.

All these digital goods that are often free, Wikipedia, search, Facebook, texting, email, if they have zero price, other than the electricity and a few other things, they're basically not counted in GDP. Yet people get a lot of value from them. Right now, the average American spends a little over eight hours per day looking at a screen of some sort, TV, computer, whatever.

All these digital goods that are often free, Wikipedia, search, Facebook, texting, email, if they have zero price, other than the electricity and a few other things, they're basically not counted in GDP. Yet people get a lot of value from them. Right now, the average American spends a little over eight hours per day looking at a screen of some sort, TV, computer, whatever.

That means they're spending slightly more than half their waking hours interacting with bits, not with all the other things. And that means a big part of our lived experience is these things that are not being well measured by traditional GDP.

That means they're spending slightly more than half their waking hours interacting with bits, not with all the other things. And that means a big part of our lived experience is these things that are not being well measured by traditional GDP.

That means they're spending slightly more than half their waking hours interacting with bits, not with all the other things. And that means a big part of our lived experience is these things that are not being well measured by traditional GDP.

Well, you're absolutely right. We have a lot more wealth than we had before. But we also did before as well. I mean, there's, you know, television and penicillin things were also not counted very well. But wealth is not the same as happiness, as we know. And so it doesn't automatically translate one for one.

Well, you're absolutely right. We have a lot more wealth than we had before. But we also did before as well. I mean, there's, you know, television and penicillin things were also not counted very well. But wealth is not the same as happiness, as we know. And so it doesn't automatically translate one for one.

Well, you're absolutely right. We have a lot more wealth than we had before. But we also did before as well. I mean, there's, you know, television and penicillin things were also not counted very well. But wealth is not the same as happiness, as we know. And so it doesn't automatically translate one for one.