IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2023 - 43

then the consumption perspective answers the
question " For whom are the emissions made? " The
method for producing statistics is based on input-
output analysis where the framework of the environmental
and national accounts is used.
Similar methods could be used elsewhere, capturing
how households produce and consume in virtual
worlds, and how resources are used to prevent
and adapt to health and environmental risks.
Introduction of new indices to complement
GDP measure
We propose an introduction of new measurable
nonmonetary, technology-based, growth indicators
to complement GDP to give a more comprehensive
way to evaluate economic growth.
The increase in performance in electronic
products that comply with Moore's law and which
form the basis of the entire digital economy and
automation could be measured in the equivalent
of the index of performance improvements akin to
that used to illustrate Moore's law. Similar indices
could be developed for technologies other than
electronics where of course the main key parameters
to be measured are different. For products that
consist of mixed technologies, the total becomes
a mixed index depending on their share in the finished
product.
For services that have been created as a result of
digitalization, even those that are not captured by
the GDP measure, the volume of data in the communication
networks can be measured, since these
services are based on communication. Such indices
would capture both human activity and automated
activity such as the Internet of Things.
The proposed indices are directly measurable
and not based on subjective assessments such as
quality or value. At the same time, they reflect the
growth of the digital economy regardless of where
it is created. As digital technology grows in more
industries, they are becoming more universal.
In addition, such indicators would make it easier
to capture the negative effects of digital technologies
such as online gambling, cybercrime, or the
control of societies, where the monetary value is
difficult to estimate.
Choosing growth trajectories
Changing growth measures such as GDP is slow
business because statistical agencies also try to
March 2023
maintain comparability with other countries and
with historical data. In contrast, adding measures
of the kind we outline here is easier. Yet, the consequences
could be stark. Choosing and refining
complementary measures is not just a technical
exercise. Rather, it would instigate a debate about
growth priorities. How much should a country
invest in innovations that are poorly captured by traditional
GDP measures such as in medicine, health
care, climate technology, digitalization of public
services and infrastructure, and risk avoidance?
such a Debate and measurable progress would
probably also encourage investments in technological
leaps or grand challenges in these areas. The
impact on innovation policy could be profound and
might help the world to be much better prepared for
future pandemics or other calamities.

 References
[1] J. E. Stiglitz, J.-P. Fitoussi, and M. Durand, Measuring
What Counts: The Global Movement for Well-Being.
New York, NY, USA: New Press, 2019.
[2] M. Feldstein, " Underestimating the real growth of
GDP, personal income, and productivity, " J. Econ.
Perspect., vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 145-164, Spring 2017.
[Online]. Available: https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/
pdfplus/10.1257/jep.31.2.145
[3] M. Horowitz, F. Labonte, O. Shacham, K. Olukotun,
L. Hammond, and C. Ballen, New plot and data
collected for 2010--2019 by K. Rupp. [Online].
Available: https://github.com/karlrupp/microprocessortrend-data
[4]
B. Swanson, " Moore's Law at 50: The performance
and prospects of the exponential economy,'' Amer.
Enterprise Inst. Public Policy Res., Washington, DC,
USA, Nov. 2015.
[5] P. Winzer, D. T. Neilson, and A. R. Chraplyvy, " Fiberoptic
transmission and networking: The previous
20 and the next 20 years, " Opt. Exp., vol. 26, no. 18,
pp. 24190-24239, 2018.
[6] E. Brynjolfsson, " The productivity paradox of
information technology, " Commun. ACM, vol. 36,
no. 12, pp. 66-77, 1993.
[7] W. D. Nordhaus, " Schumpeterian profits in the
American economy: Theory and measurement, " Nat.
Bur. Econ. Res., Cambridge, MA, USA, NBER Working
Paper 10433, 2004.
[8] Z. Griliches, " The search for R&D spillovers, " Scand. J.
Econ., vol. 94, pp. 29-47, 1992.
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https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.31.2.145 https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.31.2.145 https://www.github.com/karlrupp/microprocessor-trend-data https://www.github.com/karlrupp/microprocessor-trend-data
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