[Bishop_Malachi]

Not so. GDP figures are based on the inflation adjusted net value of economic activity, not on the money supply.

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To be fair, there’s Nominal and Real GDP. But you can beef up GDP by defining what you will count as economic activity and what you will not.

[Rockingham]

The GDP figures that are the most quoted and relied on are for real GDP as reported by reliable international agencies that correct for any national accounting tricks and quirks. The problems that crop up are for large and economically important countries like China that have systematically unreliable statistics and dodgy accounting.

There, the Chinese government has one set of economic numbers that are publicly reported, with a second line of internal reporting to the highest levels that is secret. Even worse, without mark to market rules and honest accounting of impaired lending, the financial sector is so deeply compromised as to make much of the value of loans on the books and construction questionable.

If the critics are correct, China is due for a massive writedown of its GDP numbers. Russian GDP numbers also have problems but are considered more reliable.