The Mismeasurement of America: How Outdated Government Statistics Mask the Economic Struggle of Everyday Americans

by Gene Ludwig

"A hard-hitting indictment of the data underpinning federal economic policies.”
―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The Mismeasurement of America reveals, at long last, why public perceptions of the economy differ so drastically from prevailing statistics. The truth turns out to be disconcerting: The statistics are misleading.

Here we find the roots of growing public resentment. Despite headlines heralding growth and prosperity, most Americans have fallen behind. They’re working harder year upon year not to get ahead but merely to stay apace. For them, the American Dream appears to be slipping farther and farther away.

Beneath the resentment is something else: The misleading statistics that shape our understanding of reality are steering powerful policymakers to make misguided decisions at the federal, state, and local levels alike. And, for most Americans, the results continue to be catastrophic.

How did we get here? Having spent the better part of the last 40 years working on economic policy, former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency Gene Ludwig walks readers through the research done by the economic team at the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity. In the process, we see how outdated definitions have skewed our perceptions of:

Unemployment
Wages
Inflation
Upward mobility and growth

The Mismeasurement of America presents new and better ways to understand what’s really happening in the American economy. To save the American dream, we need good economic indicators. In these pages, Gene Ludwig shows us how to get there.

Genres: Politics, Business, Nonfiction

200 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 2025

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and accessible introduction to what’s wrong with how the U.S. measures it’s economy — unemployment, median income, consumer price index — and in a refreshing novelty for wonky books, this one actually spend more time on solutions than the problems. Inspiring. A quick read at roughly 135 pages, well foot noted, and interesting. Worth a read if you would like to understand why the business pages of your favorite news sources are so disconnected from reality.

[Jerry Edward Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wealth of any nation is measured by the gross national income of the nation. This statistical measure builds upon the traditional measure of the gross national product. It is an idea of the total income available to those who reside in the nation. The United States, by this economic measure, is considered to be a “high income nation.” While this measure does assess the absolute level of goods and services produced in the nation, there may be other social or cultural indicators which may be of information value but are not included. But, how accurate are these various societal measures? Are there better ways by which we could study and understand what is really happening in the American economy? Eugene Ludwig is an expert on banking, finance, and fiscal policy. He was the nation’s 27th Comptroller of the Currency, serving during President George W. Bush’s administration. He has long been concerned with the economic challenges facing lower- and middle-income Americans. This concern is reflected in his editing in 2020 The Vanishing American Dream, a collection of scholarly opinion about those economic challenges. Now, in this new book, Ludwig writes that there must be better ways of understanding what is actually happening in the American economy. There must be better economic indicators to measure the nation’s real economic vitality. The book’s subtitle tells the reader just what to expect: a study in the ways these government statistical measures hide the realities of the economic struggles of the Middle class, the working class, and the lower economic class in our country. A focus on the measurement and condition of employment and unemployment in Houston, Texas, is at the core of this book’s studies. The study urges a thorough picture of the conditions of unemployment, wages, inflation, and upward mobility and growth. This book reminds the perceptive reader of a 1999 book by William J. Bennett, then a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators: American Society at the End of the Twentieth Century. In that book, Bennett described a “decades-long cultural decline” which could not be measured by the conventional leading economic indicators. While measuring the life and health of a nation or society can be a tricky matter they are required for good and accurate economic information needed by public policy planners, legislators, and the public in general. Ludwig walks readers through the research done by the economic team at the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity. In the process, we see how outdated definitions have skewed our perceptions of progress that may not be available to all residents. Highly recommended for all readers concerned about the health and vitality of our nation and its residents.

[Lisa Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

America is so screwed. The government relies on statistics that were defined in the 1930s and have never been updated so, for example, a person who works even a single hour in a week is technically "employed". That explains the low low unemployment rate while homelessness sky rockets. Our current official statistics not only not only ignore reality, they actively obscure it. Intelligently and clearly written, if seriously depressing.

[Shannon Heaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a short book, and a readable book, on macroeconomic statistics and how they do not catch up with everyday Americans' actual economic struggles. Which is fine enough, and all that, but if politicians aren't willing to pick up what this book is putting down it doesn't necessarily matter what statistics the government chooses to use to make itself feel better about the economy.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the author that the things we measure do not capture the true essence of the economy. I agree with him that his proposals might actually capture more of the economy than what we are currently capturing. But this is merely a relative agreement.

In the end the economy is simply to big to be captured by any measurement.

[David Robertus · Rating 5 out of 5]

this should be required reading for every politician in the country, particularly the federal level.