Conversation

"The measurement of inflation and the dark side of the digital economy"

That's the title of a new research project in economic history that me and my colleague Daniel Berg will work on during the coming three years.
It will build on our previous project which had a stronger empirical focus on 20th century Sweden.
This project will be somewhat more contemporary, international and theoretical. But still centered on how economic statistics deals with the need to define "constant utility" in a world of qualitative change. And also, how it tries to uphold ideas of "consumer sovereignty" when digital entertainment products are designed to foster compulsive consumption.
Includes one sub-study on gambling (and its inclusion in the Consumer Price Index), one on digital zero-price services, and one on "neoliberalism and the consuming subject".

Very happy that Riksbankens Jubileumsfond just decided to fund this!
https://www.rj.se/en/grants/2024/inflation-measurement-and-the-dark-side-of-the-digital/