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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 22, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

Jump in the discussion.

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similar warping effects

Not an economist, but you can find this lots of places.

My wife is a full-time homemaker. We could increase GDP if she went to work outside the home and then we paid others to care for our children and DoorDashed our meals etc. Our children are still cared for and fed but there would be a countable number to describe the economic activity that is now uncounted.

Goodhart's Law: When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.

Yes, there are all kinds of ways you could distort GDP if you really wanted to, but because nobody is particularly invested in maximizing measured GDP, it's not that big of an issue.