Can’t decide if this is more ignorant or more a non-sequitur. There’s no direct connection between the size of the GDP and the economic state of average Americans. Our population is growing and GDP is a measure of all final goods and services produced. A growing population that maintains but does not improve living standards will “grow the economy”, will cause a growing GDP. Much of our current GDP is in the financial sector, a game played by the more wealthy, one that does little for working and middle class Americans.

The Americans who are struggling in the current economy have no savings, they live paycheck to paycheck. They are squeezed by a corporation culture that earmarks all profits for shareholders, that invests to reduce labor costs (wages). 40% or so of Americans don’t have the ability to meet an emergency $400 expense without delaying payment of other bills or selling something.

The problem with 0% inflation is the perilous proximity to a deflationary spiral. Deflation is devastating to an economy, particularly one like ours that is heavily dependent on consumer spending. Once consumers become convinced that prices will continue to drop they delay their purchases which in turn harms businesses, particularly small businesses who depend on cash flow to stay afloat. Business is forced into lay offs, demand falls further, prices drop and people hold on to their cash, it’s very easy to send the entire economy into a depression. Once small businesses fail they are hard to revive, real wealth and assets held by working and middle class families are scooped up by large wealth holders, who never need to spend much of their accumulating wealth.

Rand Paul is a not very bright ideologue. He will rail against the Fed, he will never mention, possibly doesn’t know that before the institution of the Federal Reserve the country went through “panics”, depression scale downturns on the order of every 10 years. We’ve had exactly 2 in the century since the Fed was created. Be careful what you wish for;)