A policy can make a country richer and still involve a choice people don't want to make. Economic evidence matters. It doesn't decide which goods we should value most.
That distinction gets lost when a concern about safety, attachment or national control is answered only with a growth estimate. The person raising it may understand the economic cost and still think another consideration matters more.
What GDP is for
GDP measures economic production. It is useful for understanding the size and performance of an economy. It wasn't designed to provide a complete account of whether life in a country is good.
Simon Kuznets warned about drawing conclusions about welfare from national-income measures. That warning shouldn't be turned into a claim that one man invented today's entire system or that economists have never recognised its limits. The limits are well understood. Political argument often gives them less attention.
Trust, belonging and the condition of a community don't translate neatly into a single monetary total. They can still affect what people reasonably want from government.
A trade-off needs both sides
Suppose someone accepts that a policy would reduce growth but prefers it because they value greater control over a national decision. Showing them the growth estimate again doesn't answer their preference. It establishes one cost they need to consider.
They still have to explain their position. Saying something is priceless doesn't mean any price is acceptable. Economic losses affect real lives, including the resources available for services and the prospects of people with little money.
The useful argument asks what is gained, what is lost and who experiences each. Figures can clarify those questions without removing the need for judgement.
I don't want less attention to economics. I want the economic account to remain part of a fuller account of what the country is for. People should be able to say that they value something money doesn't measure without being treated as though they failed to understand the arithmetic.