4/29/96, Greg <gehrig@banyan.doc.gov> wrote:
>In short, while neither measure is perfect, I guess I am a
>conservative in the sense that I prefer the evils of the old GDP per
>capita system (with caveats for income dispersion & others) to the
>unknown evils of some of the more "newfangled" systems of
>measurement.
I think this is an excellent example of where academic methodology
serves to obscure truth more than it helps elucidate understanding. Living
standards and welfare are OBVIOUSLY deteriorating in many first-world
countries. There's higher unemployment, more homelessness, more
hours-worked necessary for bare survival, desperation among college
graduates, astronomical health-care costs, etc. etc. Indices which fail to
reflect reality should be discarded or refined, not defended. True science
is grounded in unbiased observation, not rigid methodologies.
-rkm