One of the things this comes down to is whether our measures of wealth are sensible.
A country hot enough to require air conditioning will have an increased GDP, but this GDP is really just for bringing it to the norm of another country that doesn't require aircon. And should we count the extra economic activity generated from creating a new demand where there previously was none? [1]
If we optimise for the wrong thing, we end up with bad outcomes.
I really dislike GDP as a measure, for this and other reasons.
Ultimately, GDP isn't what matters. We should care about wealth creation, about efficient use of resources (including labor), about happiness and enjoyment.
An inevitable consequence of abandoning GDP as a measure of economic progress (as we will, inevitably do) will be coming to terms with the fact that rampant consumerism and gross inefficiencies do not constitute 'growth'
A country hot enough to require air conditioning will have an increased GDP, but this GDP is really just for bringing it to the norm of another country that doesn't require aircon. And should we count the extra economic activity generated from creating a new demand where there previously was none? [1]
If we optimise for the wrong thing, we end up with bad outcomes.
[1] http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-18/convincing-w...