Why Recent Facebook Inc (FB) Study Is Hot Air

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s recent study about the company’s economic impact may be hyperbole, Landon Dowdy discusses in a report on CNBC.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) recently commissioned a Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited study where its economic impact on the worlds was analyzed. According to the study, Facebook was responsible for $227 billion in global economic impact and 4.5 million jobs, Dowdy notes, adding that this is roughly equal to the GDP of Portugal.

Nonetheless, economists, Dowdy said, are doubting the study’s findings.

“In the study commissioned by Facebook, each like was assigned an economic value giving an amplified impact on business. But economists say these results are meaningless that ‘Facebook is an effect, not a cause of the growth of internet access and use,’ Stanford economist Roger Noll told the Wall Street Journal. There were also claimed that Facebook is also responsible for 16% of smartphone sales. While Facebook does have great economic impact, economists say it isn’t as great as the report suggests,” Dowdy said.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) generated revenue of $12 billion last year and breached 1 billion users.

Nonetheless, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s COO Sheryl Sandberg, who recently said that the company is run by an ambitious CEO, will be discussing the study later this week on a global stage.

“[…] Whether you like the report or you don’t, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will be discussing the results of this study on a panel this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Sandberg disagreed with criticisms of the Deloitte report and told the Journal that Facebook has become so big that people actually confuse it with the Internet,” Dowdy said.

Paul Hudson’s Glade Brook Capital Partners owned about 1.23 million Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)