GDP Fallacy, Do Governments Willfully Mislead People?

Commodity News Center ^ | 8/4/09 | James Bibbings

[h20skier66]

Since the 1950's GDP has largely been used to measure the economic well being of nations. It is the arguably the foremost statistical factor that economic growth is derived from.

To illustrate the idea of why GDP is a poor gauge of well being in a country consider this example for a moment. In the US, any money spent to re-develop the World Trade center in New York after September 11th has in one way or another counted towards GDP growth. The same goes for any other natural or manmade disaster throughout the country. Likewise, any money spent by the US government on any domestic service, regardless of merit, also goes into GDP. This clearly becomes problematic when considering the prospects of attaching the idea of "well-being" to GDP.

In the case of government expenditures, once again GDP can be improved by good spending or by bad spending. Here consider all of the pork that is attached to legislation; it raises GDP, but does it improve well being? How about bailouts or subsidies? Take for example cash for clunkers, that improves GDP; but is it really good for well being?

[h20skier66]

Great thoughts building in this article. The original hit Freep last week, the second edition is as intriguing as the first.

[fhayek]

ping for latter read

[KTM rider]

The Three Basic Root Causes of Poverty in the World:

(everything you can name could take a subheading under each of the following categories)

1. Lack of production

2.Lack of resources

3.Government oppression

the USA has all three,

1. lack of production, because it is basically a service economy almost all production that will circulate income is outsourced( the money flows out, not back around) and the major product is debt

2. lack of resources, brought on by the leftist environmental agenda

3. government oppression , in the form of excess taxation, a special interest tax code favoring the lenders(slave owners), regulation that is not designed to protect the public but to milk the people and enslave them. The US government has become a sick joke run by powerwhores

[BILL_C]

Of course governments lie to people. Here is proof that the biggest “mystery” is actually the biggest lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kFwkIv8AsI

[DesertRhino]

The real qestion is “when are they ever completely honest,,ever?”

They have lost our trust, repub and dem, it’s time for an outsider in the whitehouse, and a wholesale replacement of the others. They need an electoral scare like they’ve never had before.

[Nosterrex]

Doubt everything the government and the MSM tell us. Assume that everything that they say is a lie, and make them prove it. Both institutions have failed the American people.