Imagine what growth numbers we'd be posting if we actually built housing for people who want to move here.
David Atkins @DavidOAtkins
4 Jul 2018
California's economy is on rocket fuel ever since we got rid of all the Republicans. Meanwhile, the supply side GOP experiments in Kansas and Oklahoma are a total dumpster fire.
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Replying to @khuey_
Counterargument: the way we describe growth numbers is silly. We should describe the rate of change in (GDP/person), not the rate of change in GDP. That's maps much better to how much better off people are.

Jul 5, 2018 · 7:25 AM UTC

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Replying to @davidbaron @khuey_
Calling it a recession when the GDP growth rate is negative makes it much easier for countries with slowly-growing populations to be in recession. But that just reflects a weaker recession threshold for those countries (e.g., Japan), not their people being worse off.
Replying to @davidbaron
This is a fair point. Depending on your point of view you may want to measure the wealth of the citizenry or the resources the state has at its disposal. GDP/capita is closer to the first, GDP closer to the second.