Mad Money

Women could give the US economy a $1.6 trillion boost, says S&P Global CEO

Key Points
  • S&P Global President and CEO Doug Peterson stresses the importance of female economic participation in an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer.
  • Peterson recaps a recent study done by his company on how women's participation could impact the global economy.
  • The U.S. economy could be $1.6 trillion larger if women's participation was on par with Norway's, the CEO says.
US economy could get $1.6 trillion boost from women: S&P Global CEO
VIDEO0:5500:55
US economy could get $1.6 trillion boost from women: S&P Global CEO

Getting more women involved in the U.S. economy could generate a $1.6 trillion boost, S&P Global President and CEO Doug Peterson told CNBC on Monday.

"In our research the last couple years, we've been looking at what would be the impact on markets if women had a higher participation rate? And we used Norway as kind of the benchmark," Peterson told CNBC's Jim Cramer on "Mad Money."

"In the United States, if we were operating [at] the same level of women's participation as Norway, our economy would be 8 percent bigger, $1.6 trillion larger, than it is right now," the CEO said.

Better yet, having women enter and stay in the U.S. workforce could add some $5.8 trillion to the total global market cap, he said.

Besides presiding over the index, S&P Global offers a host of financial analytics services to market-watchers, industry bodies and other organizations.

Since becoming CEO in 2013, Peterson has introduced several initiatives focused on gender equality, including this study and a hashtag highlighting the benefits of closing the gender gap: #ChangePays.

"What inspired us is that, as we saw the women in our organization flourishing and we see the kinds of opportunities there are for people coming to the workforce, [it] really, really required us to take a stand," Peterson told Cramer, acknowledging that he and his company can also do more to hire and promote women.

"It starts with the tone at the top, and we believe that starts with our board, it starts with me, and we also have a lot more to do ourselves," he said.

S&P Global's stock inched up Monday, ending the day 0.28 percent higher at $194.13.

Watch Doug Peterson's full interview here:

Women could give the US economy a $1.6 trillion boost, says S&P Global CEO
VIDEO8:3308:33
Women could give the US economy a $1.6 trillion boost, says S&P Global CEO

Questions for Cramer?
Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!
Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com