What does Trump see when he looks upon our great country?

I finally figured out why I’ve been so happy during the eight years of President Obama, the eight years of President Bush and the eight years of President Clinton, notwithstanding the doom and gloom portrayed by our current president.

It is spelled out in the article “The Economic Growth That Experts Can’t Count.”

It makes the point that we have underestimated our growth because our measure – GDP – just measures production, nothing else.

GDP does not measure value. It does not measure the time saved by looking up things on Wikipedia instead of going to the library, or listening to free music on Spotify instead of buying the album.

What about a doctor who graduates today and knows so much more than the graduates of years ago? And that new knowledge that allows us to return to golf in five weeks after a knee operation instead of six months? Oh, and let’s not forget spellcheck (which to me is a blessing from heaven) or cell phones or MRIs. The list goes on, and it seems to me that these technological advances are increasing at an ever faster rate of speed. They should be part of GDP.

So when the Republican president bemoans how terrible our lives have become with lost jobs, illegal immigration, poor trade agreements and the dishonest media, I wonder if he sees what I see.

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 3:58 PM with the headline "What does Trump see when he looks upon our great country?."