Three Nobel Prize Winners Endorse New Macro Statistic

by Mark Skousen

I now have three Nobel prize winners who are encouraging my development of gross output (GO) as the “top line” in national income accounting, as a complement to GDP as the “bottom line”:

 

 

 

 

 

“Mark Skousen’s gross output (GO) statistic reminds me of Irving Fisher’s ‘Q’ in the quantity theory of money (MV=PQ), where Q measures production and sale of all commodity transactions in the economy. GO provides insight into the workings of the entire production process, which can be invaluable to giving us a full picture of economic performance.”

– Vernon L. Smith, Chapman University (2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

“By integrating the vital role of the supply chain into national income accounting, Mark Skousen’s development of gross output (GO) has created a more dynamic and broader view of the economy, and of the central role that business plays in national income, the business cycle and economic growth. I recommend that economists seriously consider his new approach to macroeconomics.”

– Finn Kydland, UC Santa Barbara (2004)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Congratulations on your work. It has been a long slog to get the national accounts to introduce innovative measures, and Steve Landefeld [long-time director of the BEA] has been a superstar in this respect… This will open up the potential for new insights into the behavior of the economy.”

– William D. Nordhaus, Yale University (2018)

 

And this general endorsement:

“Gross output [GO] is the natural measure of the production sector, while net output [GDP] is appropriate as a measure of welfare. Both are required in a complete system of accounts.”

– Dale W. Jorgenson, J. Stephen Landefeld, and William D. Nordhaus, A New Architecture of US National Accounts (NBER, University of Chicago Press, 20006), p. 6.

 

Here is my latest press release: https://grossoutput.com/2023/03/30/go-growth-stalls-at-the-end-of-2022-indicating-a-potential-recession-in-2023/