Lies, damned lies and befuddlement

Why does a lawyer putting up his hourly rate increase our national productivity? Why does £83 billion of our GDP apparently come from rents that are never actually paid, or even demanded? This article, by Chris Giles, was the award-winner in the Print category of the 2007 RSS Statistical Excellence in Journalism competition. It first appeared in the Financial Times on July 27th, 2007.