| Abstract: | The main propositions of this paper are: inter-temporal and interspatial comparisons lose meaning when the arrays of goods and services being priced are too dissimilar; the composition and pricing of GDP are a function of income distribution; income tends to circulate among persons of broadly similar wealth and culture; a significant part of what is recorded as final household expenditure is intermediate in nature; public expenditure is intrinsically intermediate, and poses a variety of conceptual difficulties. Growth is associated with changes which undermine the validity of its measurement. |
