The Economist (April 30)
Developed in the wake of the Great Depressions and World Wars, gross domestic product (GDP) was originally designed “to measure the economy’s capacity to produce. Since then, GDP has become a lodestar for policies to set taxes, fix unemployment and manage inflation.” The metric can be inaccurate and is often overstretched. More robust benchmarks must be developed and this will require “a revolution in national statistical agencies as bold as the one that created GDP in the first place”.
Tags: Benchmarks, Economy, GDP, Great Depressions, Inflation, National statistical agencies, Revolution, Taxes, Unemployment, World Wars
Wall Street Journal (April 290)
Fintech companies like SoFi are doing their “best to turn the banking system upside down.” We may be glimpsing the “Uberization of Banking” if fintech firms succeed in moving “lending away from the big banks and onto your smartphone.”
Tags: Banks, Fintech, Lending, Smartphone, SoFi, Uberization