Eric Brynjolfsson

But it does mean we have an imperfect measure of the value that our economy is creating for us.

But it does mean we have an imperfect measure of the value that our economy is creating for us.

But it does mean we have an imperfect measure of the value that our economy is creating for us.

Easterlin. It's called the Easterlin paradox that what you just said, that as people got richer, they didn't seem to get happier. More recent research found that actually it just sort of is diminishing returns. Like you're saying, it's not that it actually stops.

Easterlin. It's called the Easterlin paradox that what you just said, that as people got richer, they didn't seem to get happier. More recent research found that actually it just sort of is diminishing returns. Like you're saying, it's not that it actually stops.

Easterlin. It's called the Easterlin paradox that what you just said, that as people got richer, they didn't seem to get happier. More recent research found that actually it just sort of is diminishing returns. Like you're saying, it's not that it actually stops.

So the B stands for the benefit. As I said earlier, GDP is basically a measure of production, what it costs to produce things. The GDPB is trying to capture the consumer surplus. It's the value between what the most you would have paid, what you actually have to pay. So with Wikipedia, if you would have been willing to pay $15 a month and you pay zero, you're getting $15 of consumer surplus.

So the B stands for the benefit. As I said earlier, GDP is basically a measure of production, what it costs to produce things. The GDPB is trying to capture the consumer surplus. It's the value between what the most you would have paid, what you actually have to pay. So with Wikipedia, if you would have been willing to pay $15 a month and you pay zero, you're getting $15 of consumer surplus.

So the B stands for the benefit. As I said earlier, GDP is basically a measure of production, what it costs to produce things. The GDPB is trying to capture the consumer surplus. It's the value between what the most you would have paid, what you actually have to pay. So with Wikipedia, if you would have been willing to pay $15 a month and you pay zero, you're getting $15 of consumer surplus.

Yes, we are. How do you do that? So if I were to do a survey and say, okay, I'll give you $500 to stop using the internet or stop using email, more realistically, for 30 days. Some of you would raise your hands and some of you wouldn't. If I said, okay, what if I gave you $50? What if I gave you $5? You get fewer and fewer people being willing to give it up.

Yes, we are. How do you do that? So if I were to do a survey and say, okay, I'll give you $500 to stop using the internet or stop using email, more realistically, for 30 days. Some of you would raise your hands and some of you wouldn't. If I said, okay, what if I gave you $50? What if I gave you $5? You get fewer and fewer people being willing to give it up.

Yes, we are. How do you do that? So if I were to do a survey and say, okay, I'll give you $500 to stop using the internet or stop using email, more realistically, for 30 days. Some of you would raise your hands and some of you wouldn't. If I said, okay, what if I gave you $50? What if I gave you $5? You get fewer and fewer people being willing to give it up.

And that gives you a downward sloping demand curve. A lot of people think it's worth at least $500. Not so many think it's only worth $5. And the area under that curve, we call that consumer surplus. And if you do that for lots of different goods, you start getting a sense of how much value all these different goods are creating.

And that gives you a downward sloping demand curve. A lot of people think it's worth at least $500. Not so many think it's only worth $5. And the area under that curve, we call that consumer surplus. And if you do that for lots of different goods, you start getting a sense of how much value all these different goods are creating.

And that gives you a downward sloping demand curve. A lot of people think it's worth at least $500. Not so many think it's only worth $5. And the area under that curve, we call that consumer surplus. And if you do that for lots of different goods, you start getting a sense of how much value all these different goods are creating.

No, it's something I came up with on my own where we decided that we should measure consumer surplus and not just cost. And so we started doing some small scale surveys and we got some money from different groups, the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation. So I guess part of it is a government project. And we'd love to get more support to do it at a larger scale.

No, it's something I came up with on my own where we decided that we should measure consumer surplus and not just cost. And so we started doing some small scale surveys and we got some money from different groups, the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation. So I guess part of it is a government project. And we'd love to get more support to do it at a larger scale.

No, it's something I came up with on my own where we decided that we should measure consumer surplus and not just cost. And so we started doing some small scale surveys and we got some money from different groups, the National Science Foundation, the Sloan Foundation. So I guess part of it is a government project. And we'd love to get more support to do it at a larger scale.

We're doing about 250 goods right now, including digital goods, non-digital goods. We ultimately want to get a representative basket of several thousand goods that we can track periodically alongside traditional GDP and see how they compare.

We're doing about 250 goods right now, including digital goods, non-digital goods. We ultimately want to get a representative basket of several thousand goods that we can track periodically alongside traditional GDP and see how they compare.