Gross Domestic Product Not A Good Measure Of Economic Health

Gross Domestic Product not a good measure of economic health

by

Brain Grey

The percentage of growth in GDP is used, at times, to measure health of the economy. The United States GDP estimate has been downgraded recently to just a couple percentage points. News reports often cite the Gross Domestic Product to explain the health of the economy. Economic progress, however, is far too complicated for one number to measure. The GDP is simply outdated. Article source – Why GDP is not the best measure of economic growth by MoneyBlogNewz.

What you need to know about the Gross Domestic Product The entire value of goods and services in a country is represented by the GDP. GDP began as a measurement of the standard of living in various countries, however it is used in several other ways. Finding the GDP takes a special formula. It calls for adding up government spending, exports, gross investment and private consumption. Congress was given a report of Gross Domestic Product in 1934 for the first time. Simon Kuznets put it together. Decisions were made by the Federal Reserve on this. That is what the GDP was good for. The information measured by the GDP The limitations of the Gross Domestic Product have been clear for a long time. The “real” Gross Domestic Product is released by the Bureau for Economic Analysis that adjusts the number. Without that adjustment, the GDP would always appear to be growing with the rate of inflation. The Consumer Price Index, which is a way of measuring the inflation or deflation of the cost of most household goods, also has no impact on the Gross Domestic Product. Even though the American has less income if households go up by 400 percent, the GDP will go up. Comparing GDP with credit card Since negative numbers aren’t taken into account, the Gross Domestic Product has the biggest problem with that. To translate the Gross Domestic Product in terms of a household budget, it would be as if you calculated the health of your household finances based on how much money you spent — both in cash and on your credit cards. There are several things left out. There is the possibility a mortgage payment won’t be made, the spending budget could be damaged and eventually the cards have to be paid. Measuring the economic growth of the United States — or any country — based solely on Gross Domestic Product is too simplistic to be accurate. Citations The Money Alert themoneyalert.com/GDP.html Blogging Stocks bloggingstocks.com/2010/09/10/economists-lower-2011-u-s-gdp-growth-forecasts-to-2-5/ Investopedia investopedia.com/study-guide/cfa-exam/level-1/macroeconomics/cfa3.asp

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Why GDP is not the best measure of economic growth

by MoneyBlogNewz.

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Gross Domestic Product not a good measure of economic health