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Notes -
Distorted doesn't begin to describe it. It's not like someone made an oopsie when refording data in their excel spreadsheet.
Citing these statistics is makes no sense until we establish we're even using the same definitions. If the bureaucratic sector expands to match the gains brought by technology, that's still "P" for the GDP god, and does little to argue against someone who says they're not seeing much productivity gains over their lifetime.
Outright dismissing them makes for a boring discussion, because then there is nothing to discuss unless the specific failures can be discussed. Concept of distortions I am ready accept, because whenever I hear how the calculations are made, they sound heartwarmingly crude. Method for constant prices adjustment even more so (what is the value of MacBook in 1980?). But any attempt to account for it is a headache, too.
I do believe the numbers are not wholly invented, so they track some kind of signal, which is a relevant to enough for to make the point: LLMs have not (hedge: not yet) caused dramatically increased GDP, but GDP (per capita) and productivity statistics increased when the office adopted MS Office.
Eta: sent an early draft too early.
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