Well said - we don’t get a lot of intelligent posts on FR like yours.
My addition to your comment is - Wall Street’s financial “services” all gets counted as GDP. Trading derivatives back and forth, the salaries of the employees, the services they consume - all count as GDP
What percentage of American GDP is financial services? I have been told its as high as 25%
As far as I am concerned, its all “empty” GDP - none of it will grow food, deliver materials, heat your home, ie) the real stuff an economy really exists on
Another example was Nazi Germany’s conquest of France.
They wanted the cost of garrison to be paid by France measured in Deutschmark. The French said okay, the DM vs Franc currency ratio is X at the latest market measure. Here are the required Francs.
Germany said no. There are no more Fracs. We’re closing you down. You will pay in food.