Just some quick thoughts on why monetary inflation might look “good” from an econometric perspective, while hiding the negative effects.
The shortest argument seems to be that the “positive GDP” effects of monetary inflation hit immediately, while the “negative GDP” effects hit later. That allows politicians and economists to blame other factors for the downturn.
It’s also worth remembering that GDP makes the mistake of assuming a dollar spent by the government is equivalent to a dollar spent by the private sector, as far as satisfying the actual needs and wants of people.
I’ve handled that fallacy in this article at the Mises Wire.