Question
Would "Victory Points" be a measure of player's "GDP"? If not, then how would you calculate a player's GDP?
Answer
Gross domestic product or GDP in short, is a measure of value added of a region, state or country. VPs are basically a reflection of the state of development of a player's region. Now, this is a bit different from GDP. GDP is a mean and not an end. GDP is the reflection of the amount of productive activities taking place which endows one with resources required for development. For example, if the GDP of country A increases, then it has enough money to develop the country by buying resources from other countries or by spending available resources(money) to obtain required resources(say roads).VPs, which show the value of development in the game, are certainly not the measure of GDP.
Looking at the game, we see that it is the resource cards which enable the player to develop the region. Now this can be done directly or by buying resources from bank or by getting involved in trade with other players. Therefore, resource cards are indicators of the buying capacity or endowment of a country which can be used to induce development. The more resource cards a player has, the better position he is in to push towards the goal of getting more VPs. Therefore, resource cards indicative of GDP of the player.