The DJIA is very useful historically, because it’s the best index we have for the US before the S&P 500 came into being. In the present tense, it’s the finance equivalent of RBI in baseball—it’s easy to calculate and a lot of people like it because it’s been in the headlines since the 19th century, but there’s other numbers that do the same job more effectively.
Minor quibble here...It’s my understanding that the DJIA is not useful indication of a cost to the economy.
The DJIA is very useful historically, because it’s the best index we have for the US before the S&P 500 came into being. In the present tense, it’s the finance equivalent of RBI in baseball—it’s easy to calculate and a lot of people like it because it’s been in the headlines since the 19th century, but there’s other numbers that do the same job more effectively.