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The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters
Why do we use eighty-year-old metrics to understand today’s economy?
The ways that statisticians and governments measure the economy were developed in the 1940s, when the urgent economic problems were entirely different from those of today. In The Measure of Progress, Diane Coyle argues that the framework underpinning today’s economic statistics is so outdated that it functions as a distorting lens, or even a set of blinkers. When policymakers rely on such an antiquated conceptual tool, how can they measure, understand, and respond with any precision to what is happening in today’s digital economy? Coyle makes the case for a new framework, one that takes into consideration current economic realities.
Coyle explains why economic statistics matter. They are essential for guiding better economic policies; they involve questions of freedom, justice, life, and death. Governments use statistics that affect people’s lives in ways large and small. The metrics for economic growth were developed when a lack of physical rather than natural capital was the binding constraint on growth, intangible value was less important, and the pressing economic policy challenge was managing demand rather than supply. Today’s challenges are different. Growth in living standards in rich economies has slowed, despite remarkable innovation, particularly in digital technologies. As a result, politics is contentious and democracy strained.
Coyle argues that to understand the current economy, we need different data collected in a different framework of categories and definitions, and she offers some suggestions about what this would entail. Only with a new approach to measurement will we be able to achieve the right kind of growth for the benefit of all.
The ways that statisticians and governments measure the economy were developed in the 1940s, when the urgent economic problems were entirely different from those of today. In The Measure of Progress, Diane Coyle argues that the framework underpinning today’s economic statistics is so outdated that it functions as a distorting lens, or even a set of blinkers. When policymakers rely on such an antiquated conceptual tool, how can they measure, understand, and respond with any precision to what is happening in today’s digital economy? Coyle makes the case for a new framework, one that takes into consideration current economic realities.
Coyle explains why economic statistics matter. They are essential for guiding better economic policies; they involve questions of freedom, justice, life, and death. Governments use statistics that affect people’s lives in ways large and small. The metrics for economic growth were developed when a lack of physical rather than natural capital was the binding constraint on growth, intangible value was less important, and the pressing economic policy challenge was managing demand rather than supply. Today’s challenges are different. Growth in living standards in rich economies has slowed, despite remarkable innovation, particularly in digital technologies. As a result, politics is contentious and democracy strained.
Coyle argues that to understand the current economy, we need different data collected in a different framework of categories and definitions, and she offers some suggestions about what this would entail. Only with a new approach to measurement will we be able to achieve the right kind of growth for the benefit of all.
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2025
26 people are currently reading
332 people want to read
About the author
Diane Coyle
29 books56 followersDame Diane Coyle is a British economist, academic and writer. Since March 2018, she has been the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, co-directing the Bennett Institute.
Coyle's early career as an economist was followed by a period in journalism including being economics editor at The Independent from 1993 to 2001. She was professor of economics at University of Manchester from 2014 to 2018. She was vice-chair of the BBC Trust from 2011 to 2016 and a member of the UK Competition Commission from 2001 until 2009.
Coyle has written nine books on economics.
Coyle's early career as an economist was followed by a period in journalism including being economics editor at The Independent from 1993 to 2001. She was professor of economics at University of Manchester from 2014 to 2018. She was vice-chair of the BBC Trust from 2011 to 2016 and a member of the UK Competition Commission from 2001 until 2009.
Coyle has written nine books on economics.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 4, 2025
A sequel to her sardonic social-intellectual history of how GDP became the dominant measure of economic performance, Coyle’s The Measure of Progress takes a step forward to propose a new kind of index based on “well-being” — an idea that builds on the UN’s Human Development Index and Bhutan’s National Happiness Index but which also incorporates a broader sense of environmental well-being. It remains tacitly methodological nationalistic and individualistic, two tics economists seem to find it impossible to move past.
July 31, 2025
An interesting book on what's wrong with measuring growth and progress in the digital era. I made the mistake of listening to the audiobook... It's full of equations, so listening to someone narrate a formula to you is very off-putting. If you are interested in economics and don't get scared with an elasticity equation, you will enjoy this work.
October 12, 2025
A fascinating and thoughtful read. While I have no economics background, it felt quite accessible overall (some parts did require me to reread and focus). I loved how broad it was yet how it wove different areas together - consideration of data, value, productivity, measurement. It left me with ideas to ponder and was a solid 4.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews