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by rcme 1243 days ago
Just because a broken window contributes to GDP doesn’t mean GDP is bad. Is your argument that the government is spending to break windows?
2 comments
smaddox 1243 days ago
It's not inherently bad. It measures what it measures. It's just a terrible measure of prosperity.

See, for example https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/gdp-frog-matchbox-dav...

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ClumsyPilot 1243 days ago
basically, yes. Its called the housing market - an asset that controbutes nothing to the economy goes up in value and makes life unaffordable for new generations.

There are pther manofestations of thos, and it is not always done by governments.

One of the few true reflections of economic health is commodities - those cannot be fakes.

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rcme 1243 days ago
Productivity has been increasing. The amount of land is fixed. In such a scenario, I would definitely expect the value of land to increase.
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ClumsyPilot 1243 days ago
Uk is a densely populated country, and 95% of land is just empty - field, forest, whatever. Only 5% of land is built on.
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rcme 1243 days ago
Sure, but you also have to consider the proximity to where the productivity gains are happening. The median household income has increased 4 times over in SF since 1990 (30K - 120K). Do you really expect property values in SF to stay the same? And of course, that's just the median. At the high end, the difference is even more pronounced.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MHICA06075A052NCEN

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