You can easily get 5% growth and worse living standards.

Expand your balance sheet to pay everyone to dig a hole.

GDP goes up.

As long as you ignore debt, GDP doesn't really mean anything.

Look at China's debt.

Is that 5% growth? Or is that a piece of paper with a number "5" in it? There is a difference.

> odd kind of depression

Not so much if you compare it to the original “Great Depression” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Depression

Of course assuming that 5% even means anything. Look up the Soviet official growth figures from the late 70s and 80s

Li Keqiang, China’s former premier, doesn’t even look at gdp. It’s for ‘reference only’.

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B527D/