The health of the economy is important, or so we’ve been told. The economy is measured by GDP, Gross Domestic Product, which only measures the value of goods and services produced.

And surprisingly, there is no scope for the positive or negative effects on real people's lives.

To talk more about this we speak with Dirk Philipsen, Associate Research Professor of economic history at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and a Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics.