I understand that "at the ground level" that's all that matters. But these statistics are very useful for examining the economic heft of an entire country in th

I understand that "at the ground level" that's all that matters. But these statistics are very useful for examining the economic heft of an entire country in the context of geopolitics. Of course if you don't care about things like that (like most people don't and have no reason to in their everyday lives) then you're correct it doesn't matter. Every once in a while big things happen though (world wars break out, trade deals are signed, etc.) and in those cases it can pay to have the largest GDP.