The Little Big Number: How GDP Came to Rule the World and What to Do about It PDF
Preview The Little Big Number: How GDP Came to Rule the World and What to Do about It
The LittLe b ig Number The LittLe b ig Number How gDP Came to ruLe tHe worLD aND wHat to Do about it Dirk PHiLiPseN Princeton university Press Princeton and oxford Copyright © 2015 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu Jacket background image: Detail of Stanford’s General Map of the world on Mercator’s projection. London: Edward Stanford, 1922. All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Philipsen, Dirk, 1959– The little big number : how GDP came to rule the world and what to do about it / Dirk Philipsen. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-16652-0 (hardback) — ISBN 0-691-16652-8 (hardcover) 1. Gross domestic product. I. Title. HC79.I5P515 2015 339.31—dc23 2014044458 British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Minion Pro and Gill Sans Printed on acid- free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CoNteNts 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 v vi CONTENTS 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 aCkNowLeDgmeNts This book was a long time coming. Without an enormous amount of input and support of lots of people, its very conception would not have been possible. Its core ideas rest on a rich intellectual tradition of excellent scholar- ship that is radical in its attempts to decipher the roots of cultural and social organizing principles. I owe much debt to those mentioned in footnotes and the bibliography, and there are many more. Over the course of seven years, the manuscript went through dozens of drafts, more or less useful experiments, and new starts. Several ideas I con- sidered downright priceless at one point or another ended up in the trash bin. Many words put down with great effort proved superfluous or worse in the way of clear expression. Every idea has a history. And for it to get developed and brought to light re- quires an environment that inspires and prods and supports and pushes back and contributes meaning. Above all people. People who both build context and are the product of it. People who struggle, design, construct, and decon- struct. People who, in the process of interacting, create this endlessly rich tap- estry of experiences that can never be reduced to a simple measure. A number of wonderful friends helped me throughout this process— listening, reading, debating, probing, responding, and, without exception, pro- viding invaluable suggestions. Sections of drafts throughout the years were read by Peter Wood, John Srygley, Chris Caldwell, Susanne Freytag, Klaus Philipsen, Larry Goodwyn, Thad Williamson, John Wagner, Niklas Philipsen, Randall Kramer, Veit Hannemann, Tom Levinson, Tom Nechyba, Bill Chameides, and students of my “History of Capitalism” course. Thanks so much to all of you. In the spring of 2013, I finished the last chapter—fi nally a full manuscript. But then relocation of family, new appointment, and illness prevented comple- tion. A vital— and very creative— push to pass the last hurdle was initiated by my colleague Walter Sinnott- Armstrong. He offered his support (not to men- tion his house) to bring together a group of readers who would spend one full Saturday discussing the manuscript. Grateful yet also somewhat frightened by vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the prospect of twelve people taking apart my work, the result was one of the most intellectually enhancing experiences I’ve ever had. It was also a day of spirited community among a diverse group of people. For their time and effort to read the whole manuscript, and for the wide range of thoughtful, probing, and creative responses, my deep thanks to Wal- ter Sinnott- Armstrong, Renée Hill, John Srygley, Michaeline Crichlow, Mi- chael Hardt, Shana Starobin, Bill Greider, Norman Wirzba, Alexa Dilworth, Mac McCorkle III, Tony Hughes, and Wesley Hogan- Philipsen. Our discussions lasted deep into the night; my apologies for tired flights home the next day. Good work requires material support— time, of course, but also money to pay the bills, allow for research trips, or provide release from classes to teach or yet another committee meeting to attend. Critical material support for the research behind this book came from the Mellon Foundation, Duke Univer- sity’s John Hope Franklin Center, and the National Endowment for the Hu- manities. I am deeply grateful for their confidence in this project. Particular thanks goes to Srinivas Aravamudan, who did much to afford me a fantastic sabbatical experience. Without the expert advice of archivists who pointed me in the right direc- tion at the National Archives, the Harvard Archives, and the Library of Con- gress, I would have missed many a lead. Patiently and kindly, they guided me through a labyrinth of sources. I can’t thank them enough. I am very grateful to my editors at Princeton. Special thanks to Seth Ditchik for adopting and believing in this project; Karen Fortgang and Samantha Nader for shepherding a large manuscript through the production process with author- ity and grace; Dimitri Karetnikov for an excellent job with images and graphs; and Linda Truilo, whose thorough copyediting job I could always trust to catch those many little errors in style and formatting that creep into a manuscript. Over the years, I consulted with countless experts and scholars here and abroad. Some might distance themselves from several of the arguments made in this book. I learned much from those conversations, yet responsibility for conclusions drawn lies entirely with me. Toward the end of the project, a random medical emergency almost pushed me off the cliff. Pulling me back to safety with two complicated sur- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix geries, I have the kind of special gratitude for Dr. Mark Shapiro, Dr. Michael Barfield, and their excellent team at Duke University Hospital usually reserved for mothers— I owe my life to them. Special thanks also to my friends and colleagues and students at the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Collectively they have created an en- vironment in which exploration and creative exchange of ideas is both cher- ished and supported. I am very grateful for that. My heart- felt appreciation to Leff and Jenny Lefferts, who, with indomita- ble spirit and hospitality, opened their beautiful home in San Francisco to me for the last round of frantic edits. Words don’t always suffice. She listened to me, asked questions, prodded me to clarify— from the beginning to end of this project. She helped me find sources and navigate archives. Over and over, she kindly but persistently suggested cuts to my long-w inded Germanic prose. Despite her own full-t ime job, she held down the home and was there for our children when I was away on sab- batical. With all the research in place, she gave me another priceless gift: a year of WLAMF (Write Like a Mother$*%@#). It came with a certificate, a mug, a reprieve from household chores, and a deadline: one year later, have a completed first draft. After she was appointed to a demanding academic leadership position, she spent a large part of her first three months on the new job working long hours before coming to the hospital, finding what little rest there was to be had on an uncomfortable recliner, lending support and comfort. Her kindness, curiosity, and open mind continue to inspire me. Her high standards and relentless in- telligence make me strive, every day, to be a better person. My best friend, my comrade in struggle, my wife: Wesley Hogan- Philipsen. In deep appreciation and love, I aspire to be for her what she has been to me. As the manuscript suggests, I believe that future generations have rights equal to our own. Conscious or not, the world currently operates under an organizing principle that fundamentally violates the rights of the young, the poor, the voiceless, and the as yet unborn. It is to all those, including my four children Niklas, Shamus, Sven, and Chloë, that I dedicate this book.
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