[bigbadfeline]

> Keynes > Anything we can actually do we can afford

Yes, but Keynes also pointed out the result of that: "In the long term we are all dead" :)

Seriously, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and as much as the economics mainstream likes this to be true nobody ever presented convincing evidence in support of it.

> our collective economic capability routinely increases (implied by ever growing GDP)

Just in the last 3 days, there were several posts on HN that pointed out the inadequacy of the GDP as a measure of economic development, and they presented serious evidence.