This critique doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Why wouldn't you count a processor that costs twice as much as twice the economic output?
It's vaguely reminiscent of the claim that inflation data is understated because computers at the same price have gotten better... except opposite. There's no adjustment for quality in the sense that a quality improvement without a change in price is estimated & counted. It's only if the processor's actual price doubles — i.e. it brings in twice as much revenue!
Is that even something we observe in computers to a significant extent? Even if it is, is it a bad thing? If homes increase in size by 50%, simultaneously increase in price by 50%, and an equal quantity of them are sold, is home production not up 50%?
This feels like an argument that automation in manufacturing has only increased because the distribution of production has shifted towards the highly automated semiconductor industry, but it's couched in a bizarre claim that increases in monetary value of output for the computer industry just don't count.
It's vaguely reminiscent of the claim that inflation data is understated because computers at the same price have gotten better... except opposite. There's no adjustment for quality in the sense that a quality improvement without a change in price is estimated & counted. It's only if the processor's actual price doubles — i.e. it brings in twice as much revenue!
Is that even something we observe in computers to a significant extent? Even if it is, is it a bad thing? If homes increase in size by 50%, simultaneously increase in price by 50%, and an equal quantity of them are sold, is home production not up 50%?
This feels like an argument that automation in manufacturing has only increased because the distribution of production has shifted towards the highly automated semiconductor industry, but it's couched in a bizarre claim that increases in monetary value of output for the computer industry just don't count.