Stubborn Attachments is a smart slim book by Tyler Cowen. He presents a decisive defense of society’s obligation to pursue economic growth. Although he expands his profession’s definition of wealth by bulking it out to include a larger scope of life. Wealth Plus is how he describes it.

In chapter five he wrestles around with some ideas about who should do what when. In order to not only have monetary wealth, it is valuable to sense that when something bad is on nigh, someone is around for a rescue. When the drowning girl needs to be saved, there must be a member willing to jump in the water and pull her out.

It’s not efficient if everybody were to jump in. She’d be saved by the sudden and dramatic reduction of the water level. Meanwhile no other jobs would get the attention they deserve. S0 how is it that the available labor will be in place when a task needs doing? When a crime needs reporting or an old pensioner needs protecting? That’s a great question.

It’s the question that begs the demand for benchmarking.