Jim Devine wrote:
>I recently read an article by Brad deLong
>(http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Econ_Articles/Jaffe/new_macroeconomy.html)
>in which he cited an article by my old undergraduate senior thesis
>dvisor, William Nordhaus, as saying that we should "throw the
>construction, services, government, and the 'finance, insurance, and
>real estate' sectors of the economy overboard as far as productivity
>calculations are concerned, and to focus on the remaining sectors
>which he calls 'well-measured output.'" (This is a quote from Brad,
>not from Bill. I can't tell which Nordhaus article(s) Brad is
>summarizing.)
Ah, Nordhaus. In his intermediate macro course, he had us devise
fiscal and monetary policy for a model economy he'd developed. It was
my right-wing days, so I ran a tight ship. I had unemployment up to
20% in no time!
I like the idea of this: throw out the stuff we don't like.
Productivity sucks in these sectors, so let's forget them! Does he
mean to imply that hedonic computer pricing produces well-measured
output?
Doug
