Yes, GDP is famously crap. It wasn't developed as a number to be maximised, and we've known it makes no sense to maximise it ever since it was developed. Samue

Yes, GDP is famously crap. It wasn't developed as a number to be maximised, and we've known it makes no sense to maximise it ever since it was developed. Samuelson remarked along the lines that (old-fashioned gender roles alert) "if a man marries his maid, GDP falls". Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped politicians and journalists using it to keep score.