>Which is why I don't buy most government statistics, since their methodology
>for collection is so outdated. What the hell does "value-added" mean in
>this day and age?
Value created in production, which takes the form of cash. The forms may change, but paying for inputs and selling outputs at a higher price, M-C-M', is a constant.
>Does software count in this whole cateogry?
>What about computer skills training?
>How about other machinery that now is computerized, but is not itself a
>computer?
No to the first two, and somewhat to the second. Daniel Sichel has written on the first two, and says that those costs have offset the rapid decline in hardware costs, which is the reason for the old joke:
>There is the old joke that computers have shown up everywhere except in the
>productivity statistics.
Doug