Peter Norvig's Address at the UC Berkeley Computer Science Commencement (2006)

What's your calculation to adjust for both?

from 2000 to 2010, nominal GDP increased by 45% (from $9.9T to $14.4T), or 3.8% annually

http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTableHtml.cfm?reqid=9&step=3&...

It's clearly stated that he's quoting Franklin -- "America's first great scientist."

Here are some other statements about Franklin from Wikipedia which might illuminate the meaning (and maybe Norvig's assessment of the quote's relevance to computer science, information retrieval and Google):

Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In a Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."[3] To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."

Franklin never patented his inventions; in his autobiography he wrote, "... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously."

His inventions also included social innovations, such as paying forward. Franklin's fascination with innovation could be viewed as altruistic; he wrote that his scientific works were to be used for increasing efficiency and human improvement. One such improvement was his effort to expedite news services through his printing presses.

It is an admonition that you should do work that creates a better life for people other than yourself. This is giving service to others. When a majority of the people do this, everyone's life is really great, when nobody does this a few people have great lives and a large number do not. Its fundamental to Christian theology and a number of other schools of thought.

I think he means don't be afraid to work at a problem you care about and you'll probably end up helping someone else. Although I'm not sure if he's saying the opportunity to provide value for others is the goal or just a byproduct of your own interests...