But you're comparing indexed numbers to non-indexed numbers! The treasury
publishes *both* current dollars for GDP, and chained dollars.

On the site I found and used for the calculation, there are no non-indexed
numbers for the GDP. I am not saying they don't exist somewhere, in fact you
would have to start with a non-indexed number and apply a factor to create an
indexed number in the first place. However, if the BEA is reporting the GDP
only in indexed numbers there must be some logical justification for that. I
believe it's to try to
develop a valid year-to-year comparison of actual wealth produced- not just the
effect of inflation.

With a non-indexed number, actual production could go *down* 5 percent, but if
inflation ran 7 percent the same year, the non-indexed number would encourage
people to believe that the economy grew by 2%. No, the economy shrank by 5% (in
this hypothetical example) and prices increased by 7.