Reply #84: That definition of a recession is what's irrelevant

[DireStrike]

GDP does not matter if changes in GDP do not affect the vast majority. A non-negative change in GDP is good, but increases past zero are not worth particularly much.

The obsession with GDP and the formally defined "recession" is apparent in all news outlets. Unemployment gets far less coverage. Yet for most people, the economy does not get any better until employment grows.

The coverage of the stock market and GDP as if they were the totality of our economy is disgusting. They are largely useless measures which should see little coverage, perhaps in the editorials of economists. It is oversimplification and it hurts people's understanding of the state of the economy.