A new study commissioned by Facebook has produced some impressive numbers. An impact of $227 billion on the global economy in 2014, $100 billion of it in the United States. More than 4 million jobs enabled, with 1.1 million of those in the U.S.
People believe that technology creates jobs in the tech sector and destroys jobs everywhere else, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told Reuters. This report shows that s not true.
The Deloitte & Touche report says the industries affected by Facebook include marketing, apps, connectivity and devices. Sandberg told Reuters that Facebook s marketing tools help small businesses grow. And the report said social events on Facebook help create economic value by stimulating consumer spending.
But economists questioned the report s claims.
The results are meaningless, Stanford economist Roger Noll told the Wall Street Journal. Facebook is an effect, not a cause, of the growth of Internet access and use.
Also among the report s findings: To access high-definition video, high-resolution photos and links to streamed music that are shared on Facebook, consumers are boosting spending on faster connections and more data. The report also attributed 16 percent of global smartphone sales to the social network, based on what it says is an assumption that the proportion of the demand for new devices is driven by the desire to use Facebook.
But another economist quoted by the WSJ has a problem with that reasoning. The value of smartphones is that they help you read Facebook — in addition to other benefits — not vice versa, said Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University.
Photo from Reuters archives
