That Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an outdated and misleading metric of the economy is widely accepted. The problem isn’t an abstraction, as we manage what we measure and so policymakers and citizens alike make decisions on what’s being measured. If what’s being measured is misleading, then we’re flying blind......
...The bottom 50% of American households own a tiny slice of the nation's financial wealth. The vast expansion of central bank stimulus and the resulting asset bubbles haven't increased the wealth of the bottom 170 million Americans, which hovers at 2.6%--signal noise compared to the 31% owned by the top 1% and the 68% owned by the top 10%.
How would we rate the US economy in terms of quality of life? It's clear that we'd have to conclude it's in a deep Depression. Can we really sugarcoat all this with claims everything's going great because GDP is rising and AI is making some of us rich?
As for all the cheerleading about how great the economy is doing--GDP is like collecting data on passenger satisfaction with the dessert cart on the Titanic and declaring everyone is delighted as the great "unsinkable" ship settles into the icy waters of the Atlantic.
