I've never bought into the ruse of an increasing population implying a higher standard of living. Politicians love this as a stagnating economy can appear to be

I've never bought into the ruse of an increasing population implying a higher standard of living. Politicians love this as a stagnating economy can appear to be doing better, by pointing to an increased GDP that usually rises with an increased population. They'll never mention how much per capita adjusted for inflation it is. When inequality rises, they'll pretend it's unrelated. Of course the extra stress on the infrastructure, housing, hospitals and schools are all things that their predecessors will have to worry about. They're the first things that conservatives will conventionally not increase funding for. We measure GDP as it's traditionally an indicator for a standard of living.