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While the article doesn't offer a lot of hard facts, I think it touches on a larger point that bears repeating: GDP is a completely arbitrary number that does not merit the sort of reverence it gets in the media and political process.

Here's a good example: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=does%20the%20...

The paper, among other things, describes how the GDP of the oil-producing nations is dramatically overstated, because most of their oil revenue should really be counted as conversion of capital rather than accessions to wealth.

Not directly relevant to Japan, but part of the overall debate of getting past the use of GDP as a touchstone metric.




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