That true, but it also has to do with the way productivity is calculated.  If Joe borrows $10,000 from John, and loans $10,000 to Jill, and Jill uses that $10,000 to pay back the money she owes John, that counted as $30,000 worth of productivity as far as GDP is concerned.  &quot;Economic activity&quot; does not equal productivity.  If the government hires one person to dig a hole, and another person to fill it in, that&#x27;s &quot;economic activity&quot; but it sure as hell isn&#x27;t the productivity that GDP says it is.