is a high gdp good 
most people perceive a higher gdp to be a good thing because it is associated with greater economic opportunities and an improved standard of material well being it is possible however for a country to have a high gdp and still be an unattractive place to live so it is important to also consider other measurements for example a country could have a high gdp and a low per capita gdp suggesting that significant wealth exists but is concentrated in the hands of very few people one way to address this is to look at gdp alongside another measure of economic development such as the human development index hdi 6the bottom linein their seminal textbook economics paul samuelson and william nordhaus neatly sum up the importance of the national accounts and gdp they liken the ability of gdp to give an overall picture of the state of the economy to that of a satellite in space that can survey the weather across an entire continent 32gdp enables policymakers and central banks to judge whether the economy is contracting or expanding whether it needs a boost or restraint and if a threat such as a recession or inflation looms on the horizon like any measure gdp has its imperfections in recent decades governments have created various nuanced modifications in attempts to increase gdp accuracy and specificity means of calculating gdp have also evolved continually since its conception to keep up with evolving measurements of industry activity and the generation and consumption of new emerging forms of intangible assets 