Relying on our existing measures, we're going to miss a lot of what happens in the economy as it moves into the 21st century. We are fast departing a time when progress can be measured by GDP or any other simple tally of what the economy produces. If we become fixated on the numbers and fail to imagine the possibilities, we may miss one of the greatest periods of economic advancement in history. Worse yet, if we judge 21st century progress by 20th century measures, we may infer that our system is failing and in need of repair by government. That is the bad news.
Free enterprise is America's greatest welfare program.
For more than two centuries, the system has worked to make our lives better. The pessimists fret that our best days are behind us. They are wrong. We stand poised on the brink of a new era, one endowed with technology and teeming with opportunities. The future offers even faster economic progress.