[EliRivers]

Okay, we both write a poem and sell it to each other for a billion dollars. How's that? Or if you want something more physical, we both make an ash-tray by scraping a groove in a lump of wood and sell those to each other for a billion each.

[ajuc]

If only you 2 are doing this, this won't affect GDP much.

If everybody is doing this, prices rise aproprietely, and GDP corrected for inflation is still a good indicator.

EDIT: BTW there's a reason people don't generally sell cheap things for billions of $ - you'll both have to pay tax from that sale :)

And even if we assume no inflation - government can now invest these money, fueling economy, so this sale had at least some positive effect on economy.

[archgoon]

The government will cheerfully collect $300 million in taxes from each of you.

[EliRivers]

No worries. I'll pay them with a poem written on an ash tray.