Complicating matters further is the fact that the next wave of productivity-enhancing technological developments are likely to occur in sectors such as health care, where their economic impact is difficult to measure. Economists believe that many improvements in health-care quality – such as more effective treatments for cataracts or cardiac disease – are not accurately reflected in real GDP, and are incorrectly reported as price increases.
而令事情进一步复杂化的则是推动下一波生产力提升的科技进步很可能在医疗卫生这类部门产生，而它们对经济的影响则极为难以测量。经济学家相信许多在医疗卫生质量方面的提升——例如对白内障和心脏疾病的更有效治疗——有在实际GDP方面得到准确的体现，甚至因为价格提升而受到错误报道。如果要更精确地评估经济发展，就必须有更好的手段来测量这类变革。