The Little Big Number

Dirk Philipsen is a German- and American-trained professor of economic history at the Sanford School of Public Policy and a senior fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics, both at Duke University.

Acknowledgments vii Introduction: We Become What We Measure 1 Casting a Spell 9 Exploring a Path 13 1. More, Better, Faster: The Beginnings 19 Productivity, Growth, and Success 20 Goals and Measures 27 Values and Measures 32 2. The Origins of Bling: The Spirit of Economic Growth 40 The World of Growth: Refining the Measure 52 Business Accounting Goes National 57 3. The Crucible of Crisis: The Great Depression and the Need for Economic Indicators 65 4. Born from Disaster: The Making of a Key Measure 83 The Challenge 84 The Players 89 The Method 93 The Findings 99 The Big Conundrum: Translating Findings into Action 102 5. Forged in War 107 6. Global Domination: The Age of GDP 117 For Richer or Poorer 117 A Stunted Priesthood 121 Stopgap Consensus 123 Going Global 128 New Rules 130 GDP Junkies 133 Shackled in Fool's Gold 139 7. Today's ABC of GDP 143 It's an Emperor, but Does It Have Clothes? 152 Why It Matters 157 8. More Is Not Enough 160 The Little Big Number: Our Report Card for Success 174 Emerging Dissent 178 9. "The People of Plenty Are a People of Waste" 184 Breaking the Spell 204 10. From Alchemy to Reason: What If? A Thought Experiment 208 Mental Cobwebs 219 One More Time: Simon Kuznets 230 Clearing a Path 236 11. Looking Forward 243 A Daring Vision 250 A Moment of Possibility 265 Appendix A. The Measure as Guide 271 Notes 277 Bibliography 351 Index 389