What Counts as Economic Activity — and What Doesn’t

7.02.2026

Economics Explored

0:00

41:29

What do we actually count as economic activity — and what do we leave out? In this episode, Gene speaks with economist Misty Heggeness about Swiftynomics, her new book on women’s work, unpaid care, and the limits of standard economic statistics. Misty uses Taylor Swift as a narrative anchor for a broader argument about care, work, and economic growth. She argues that large amounts of productive activity — especially care and household work — sit outside GDP. The conversation explores unpaid labour, the gender pay gap, universal childcare, and whether rethinking what we measure could lead to better economic policy.

Gene would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. You can email him via [email protected].

About this episode’s guest: Misty Heggeness

Misty L. Heggeness is an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration and an associate research scientist in the Institute for Policy and Social Research at the University of Kansas. She has over a decade of experience leading high-profile research that informed decision-making within the U.S. federal government. Her research focuses on poverty & inequality, gender economics, and the high-skilled workforce and has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Economist, and Science.

https://spaa.ku.edu/people/misty-heggeness

Takeaways

GDP measures market activity — but ignores much unpaid care and household work.
Women, on average, do more total economic activity per day once unpaid work is included.
How we measure the economy influences which policies governments prioritise.