simplicity

the simplicity of metals or of earths

the simplicity of a machine

simplicity of dress, of style, or of language

the simplicity of a doctrine

Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.

speaking of the great simplicity we commit, in leaving yong children under the government and charge of their fathers and parents.