There is growing interest in the history of economic statistics, and Eli Cook has provided in The Pricing of Progress: Economic Indicators and the Capitalization of American Life a fascinating account of the era of economic measurement prior to the creation of the modern System of National Accounts. The story illustrates the dual character of statistics, which is the product of political contestation and social structures, as well as the data by which we can interpret the economy. Appreciating this duality through the history of economic measurement helps explain why political polarization today often seems to play out as competing interpretations of the "facts." In this context, the idea that GDP growth is a good measure of economic progress is increasingly being challenged, as both the "beyond GDP" agenda and digital disruption point to a growing wedge between what GDP is measuring and economic welfare. Economists should be engaging with the history of the statistics we use every day in order to be able to shape their future.

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衡量进步：《进步的定价：经济指标与美国人的生活资本化》的回顾论文

人们对经济统计的历史越来越感兴趣，埃利·库克（Eli Cook）在《进展定价：经济指标和美国人的生活资本化》中提供了关于在建立现代国民账户体系之前进行经济计量的一个有趣的解释。 。这个故事说明了统计的双重特征，它是政治竞争和社会结构以及我们用来解释经济的数据的产物。通过经济计量的历史来欣赏这种二重性有助于解释为什么今天的政治两极化似乎经常作为对“事实”的相互竞争的解释而发挥作用。在这种情况下，将GDP增长作为衡量经济进步的良好指标的想法正日益受到挑战，因为两者都“超越GDP” 议程和数字化破坏表明，GDP衡量与经济福利之间的差距越来越大。经济学家应该了解我们每天使用的统计数据的历史，以便塑造自己的未来。