GDP is a weak measure of prosperity/utility. War had very high GDP, but has very low utility. It doesn't burn banknotes, but it burns everything banknotes buy,

GDP is a weak measure of prosperity/utility. War had very high GDP, but has very low utility. It doesn't burn banknotes, but it burns everything banknotes buy, so the result is similar. The only thing economically good about war is that it gives political cover for deficit spending, which encourages productive activity (which GDP measures poorly)