INTANGIBLE ECONOMY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR STATISTICS AND STATISTICIANS

This paper presents an interpretation of major changes affecting the m odern economy, Our postulate is that the defining trend is the shift t o the intangible, The source of economic value and wealth is no longer the production of material goods but the creation and manipulation of dematerialised content, The logic of dematerialisation is pervasive a nd ubiquitous and affects all sectors and activities, It profoundly tr ansforms economic relationships and interactions, the ways firms and m arkets are organised and transactions are carried out, It is also unse ttling, to the extent that it runs squarely against some of the key te nets of the conventional logic of economics, The intangible economy ra ises a whole series of measurement issues, More fundamentally, it chan ges the role, the function, and the perception of economic measurement data, Official agencies no longer have the monopoly of economic data: a lively and diversified measurement and monitoring industry has emer ged, Statisticians need to undertake a comprehensive appraisal of thei r business, Adapting to the new environment will require major changes in three key areas: conceptual foundations, modus operandi and tempor al outlook, If measurement systems are to capture the essence of the e conomy of today and tomorrow, intangibles have to move from the periph ery to the core of these systems.