Recommendable! Yes, medical services and more ill people increase GDP! A lesson in economics!
Economic textbooks have pointed out this paradox/negative self enforcing cycle for at least several decades that e.g. a roaring economy causes more employees to get stressed out, suffering more accidents etc. and thereby seeking more medical treatment driving up GDP further.
"... The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) cut fourth-quarter real economic output growth to 0.7 percent from 1.4 percent. ...
Demand for health care was lower than initially estimated. The Census Bureau’s Quarterly Services Survey shows health care and social assistance revenue rose just 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter after a 3.0 percent gain in the third quarter. BEA specifically cited new QSS data as the reason it revised down health-care services.
Demand was down because we were healthier than expected. Data from the Centers for Disease Control show severe respiratory illness hospitalizations were low late in the fourth quarter, consistent with a lighter illness period than one would expect in a normal winter ramp-up. Fewer sick people means fewer hospital visits, fewer outpatient visits, and less measured health-care output. So a mild holiday season for the flu and COVID turns out to be bad for GDP accounting, but it is not bad news for actual Americans. ..."
Fig: GDP (Second Estimate), 4th Quarter and Year 2025 (Source)
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