[Borodog]

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Except that those computers, while they are depreciating, do work that people actually value.

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And in determining the raw value of economic production, where does the "what the people actually value" factor in? I don't believe it does.

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Which only shows that the GDP of hole-digging and war-making is irrelevent to the health of the economy.

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I sure was pissed off when I bought a Gateway. It was a total piece of junk and brought no value to me. My consumption (C) of $2000 still factored into GDP, however. Just like the government spending (G) on 100,000 airplanes factored into GDP.

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You're still missing the point. If instead the government had merely taken your $2000 and bought $2000 woth of airplane, is the economy better off? Have you even "increased GDP" ? If the government prints enough money to buy its 100,000 airplanes, and the manufacturers of those airplanes bid up the price of computers to where you can't afford one and don't buy one, has the economy been "helped" ?

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On a related note, many technology innovations and efficiencies came about from World War II as well, which also factor greatly into the GDP growth rate. And some would say such things as the entire airline industry came into existence because of World War II.

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Funding a massive war to reap technological benefits has to be the most inefficient R&D program possible.