“The GDP Mirage”
The story, by Michael Mandel, is here. Excerpt:
While the statistics don't account for it, there's good reason to
suspect intangible investments are falling. Companies are under
pressure to cut costs by reducing R&D expenditures and deferring
other crucial intangibles, notes Hulten. "Because these are expensed,
it looks like a pure win," he says. "You are not seeing the benefits of
the intangibles in the financial statements–only the costs."
There is much more of interest in this article.