remember that the first variable in calculating GDP is consumption, and they don't subtract anything for borrowing. So yes, our GDP is incredibly high, artifically, because we buy shit like crazy without having the money to pay for it.
Also, the last GDP figure available is 2007, which was well before the crash and burn of the sub prime mortgage scam, and while we were still in the midst of borrow-and-spend. Now that people are having a much harder time borrowing, I'd not at all be surprised to see our GDP drop significantly this year. ( a prediction that admittedly I can comfortably make since by the time we see the stats for this year some time in 2011, this thread will have long been forgotten
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