(Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)
How useful is
GDP as a policy metric? Not very. Even the most rudimentary analysis shows that reliance upon GDP as a metric is embarrassingly naive.
In fact, even the simplest thoughts constantly remind us of the utter failure of the economics field to stay relevant to national demands, let alone national options. Let's try some added perspective. Look at our situation this way.
The culture of a nation-state is an organism, as alive as any one of it's citizens.
How do nation-states survive? By the agility of their national behavior, of course.
Given of course, that the agility of other nations changes, how do we keep the Adaptive Rate of our nation chugging along, within striking distance of the leaders in this endless marathon of human evolution?