Two economists were taking a walk in the forest. As they strolled along, they spotted a pile of feces on the ground.

The first economist had a sudden idea and said to the second: "If you dare eat this pile of shit, I'll give you 100 yuan." The second economist thought, why not make easy money, so he steeled himself and ate it. The first economist was quite willing to pay and promptly handed over 100 yuan.

The two continued walking, and shortly after, they spotted another pile of feces. The second economist felt unbalanced, so he said to the first: "If you dare eat this one too, I'll also give you 100 yuan." The first economist was already regretting the 100 yuan he'd spent, so without hesitation, he ate it. The second economist gave back the 100 yuan he'd just earned to the first.

After walking for a while, the more the two thought about it, the more something felt off. One of them couldn't help but exclaim: "Wait a minute, the amount of money in our pockets hasn't changed at all. Yet we've each eaten a pile of shit. What was the point of all this?"

The other economist, however, looked excited: "No, no, that's not the way to look at it! You see, we just created 200 yuan worth of GDP!"