While we&#x27;re agreed on the deficiencies of GDP, the original issue was how economists define growth -- and, well, that&#x27;s how, and is what Gordon&#x27;s book addresses.<p>Mismeasures notwithstanding, to a first approximation, GDP likely works fairly well.  Not that it&#x27;s not the fiat created by banks, but the turnover (revenues) generated in the process which would inflate GDP. Something I&#x27;ve been meaning to look into -- and which will likely upset a maths friend of mine on G+ -- is whether financial sector activity really ought be counted as productive.  Much of it I suspect isn&#x27;t.