@parker @adalberht @matrix @natsock While I don't necessarily agree with everything in there, there's some really good points.
Someone recently was bringing up "muh GDP" when talking about immigration and how evil the PPC is.
Well, the GDP of China is 10 times what ours is, would you rather live in China or Canada?
Someone recently was bringing up "muh GDP" when talking about immigration and how evil the PPC is.
Well, the GDP of China is 10 times what ours is, would you rather live in China or Canada?
@matrix @parker @natsock @adalberht I'm afraid not. GDP is measured as GDP. GDP per capita is measured as GDP per capita. They're called different things because they are different measurements.
Besides which, even if you take "GDP" as meaning "GDP per capita", not all GDP is created equal. Let's take two transactions: In one transaction, one million people buy or sell something for $1,000. In another, a bank is lent 500 million dollars by the government then pays it back. While technically they both result in $1B added to GDP, one results in meaningful economic activity, and the other results in no net change in anything. The same people exist in the economy so they have the same effect on per capita GDP, but just because money moves doesn't mean that movement is productive, particularly when you're talking about the government part of the equation.
Besides which, even if you take "GDP" as meaning "GDP per capita", not all GDP is created equal. Let's take two transactions: In one transaction, one million people buy or sell something for $1,000. In another, a bank is lent 500 million dollars by the government then pays it back. While technically they both result in $1B added to GDP, one results in meaningful economic activity, and the other results in no net change in anything. The same people exist in the economy so they have the same effect on per capita GDP, but just because money moves doesn't mean that movement is productive, particularly when you're talking about the government part of the equation.
@matrix @parker @natsock @adalberht I did specifically because of the point I was making -- GDP isn't magic. Just saying "But it'll make the GDP higher!" doesn't mean a thing is justified. The GDP is much higher in China, yet that doesn't mean it's a better place to live.
Shipping a bunch of poor people into the country so they can work for slave wages will increase the GDP, but that doesn't mean it'll make it a better place to live.
Shipping a bunch of poor people into the country so they can work for slave wages will increase the GDP, but that doesn't mean it'll make it a better place to live.
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