The economist who invented GDP warned Congress not to trust it

In 1934, Simon Kuznets delivered the first comprehensive measure of US national income to Congress, laying the groundwork for what became GDP. He explicitly warned that 'the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from its national income' — a caveat largely ignored as GDP became the default measure of a country's success.

— Simon Kuznets, National Income, 1929–1932 — Report to the US Senate, 1934