Measuring How Well the Economy is Doing (VIDEO)

This conversation was recorded on August 1, 2019.

What tools do economists have to measure how well an economy is doing? Michael Klein, Executive Editor of EconoFact and Dan Sichel (Wellesley) highlight the advantages, as well as the drawbacks of focusing on gross domestic product (GDP) - a measure of the value of goods and services produced in an economy in a given time period - to gauge an economy's health. They also highlight the thinking surrounding broader measures of well-being that take into account income distribution, mortality, the availability of leisure time, and the environment.