| In economics, the gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of
the amount of the economic production of a particular territory in financial capital terms during a specific time period. It is one of the measures of national income and
output.
Definition
GDP is defined as the total value of all goods and services produced within that territory during a specified period (most
commonly, per year). GDP differs from gross national
product in excluding inter-country income transfers, in effect attributing to a territory the product generated within
it rather than the incomes received in it.
Whereas nominal GDP refers to the total amount of money spent on GDP, real
GDP refers to an effort to correct this number for the effects of inflation
in order to estimate the sum of the actual quantity of goods and services making up GDP. The former is sometimes called "money
GDP," while the latter is termed "constant-price" or "inflation-corrected" GDP -- or "GDP in base-year prices" (where the base
year is chosen arbitrarily). See real vs.
nominal in economics.
A common equation for GDP is:
- GDP = consumption + investment + exports - imports
Economists will give a more complete definition of GDP to be a sum of four very important parts:
- GDP = consumption + investment + government + net exports
- (or simply GDP = C + I + G + NX)
where net exports = gross exports - gross imports
It is important to understand the meaning of each part:
- C is consumption (or Consumer expenditures) in the economy.
- I is defined as business investments in infrastructure. This is not to be confused with speculative investment in stock and bond markets.
- G is the sum of all government expenditures. The relationship of this to that of GDP as a whole describes the theory
of crowding out.
- NX is the sum "net exports" in the economy (exports - imports).
Aggregate
expenditures are calculated in a similar way, although the aggregate expenditures formula does not account for unplanned
investment (left over inventory at the end of the reporting cycle) and is more commonly used by economic theorists.
Calculation
United States
The GDP is calculated by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA).
Interest rates
Net interest expense is a transfer payment in all sectors except
the financial sector. Net interest expenses in the financial sector is seen as production and value added and is added to GDP.
Cross-border comparison
GDPs of different countries may be compared by converting their value in national currency according to either
The relative ranking of countries may differ dramatically between the two approaches.
The purchasing power parity method accounts for the relative effective domestic purchasing power of the average
producer or consumer within an economy. This can be a better indicator of the living standards of less-developed countries
because it compensates for the weakness of local currencies in world markets.
The current exchange rate method converts the value of goods and services using global currency exchange rates. This
can offer better indications of a country's international purchasing power and relative economic power.
For more information see measures of national
income.
Problems
Although GDP is widely used by economists, its value as an indicator has also been the subject of controversy. Criticisms of
GDP include:
- Very often different calculations of the GDP are confused among each other. For cross-border comparisons one should
especially regard whether it is calculated by purchasing
power parity method or current exchange rate method.
- GDP, as a measure of economic size, fails to measure
well-being and standard of living accurately.
- GDP doesn't take into account the black economy, non-monetary economy
such as bartering, volunteer work, or
informal creation of wealth, such as unpaid childcare provided by non-working parents, or production of goods taking place at home. Hence, in countries
with major business transactions occurring informally, portions of local economy are not easily registered, resulting in
inaccurate or abnormally low GDP figures.
- GDP doesn't measure the sustainability of growth,
as a country may achieve a temporary high GDP by over-exploiting natural resources.
- GDP counts work that produces no net gain, and does not account for negative
externalities. For example, if a factory pollutes a river, that boosts GDP, and when the taxpayers pay to have it cleaned up,
that boosts GDP again. See parable of
the broken window.
- GDP also does not tell us the actual distribution of the wealth of a country. Certain groups of people within a country might
not be benefiting from its economic wealth. A high GDP could be the result of a case of a few very wealthy people contributing to
the economy, while most of its citizens live at or below the subsistence level.
In spite of the problems with GDP as an economic measurement, concrete proposals for a replacement metric have been difficult
to generate. A proposed substitute known as the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) has been promoted by the Green Party of Canada. How exactly to determine GPI is uncertain, however; one possible formula
was devised by Redefining Progress, a San Francisco policy research
group.
United States GDP
To give an example of the components and their size. ([1]
(http://www.bea.gov/bea/dn/nipaweb/TableView.asp?SelectedTable=5&FirstYear=2002&LastYear=2004&Freq=Qtr))
Gross Domestic Product (Billions of dollars)
| Period Ending |
2003 |
| Gross domestic product |
11,004.0 |
| Personal consumption
expenditures |
7,760.9 |
| Durable goods |
950.7 |
| Nondurable goods |
2,200.1 |
| Services |
4,610.1 |
| Gross private domestic investment |
1,665.8 |
| Fixed investment |
1,667.0 |
| Nonresidential |
1,094.7 |
| Structures |
261.6 |
| Equipment and software |
833.1 |
| Residential |
572.3 |
| Change in private inventories |
-1.2 |
| Net exports of goods and services |
-498.1 |
| Exports |
1,046.2 |
| Goods |
726.4 |
| Services |
319.8 |
| Imports |
1,544.3 |
| Goods |
1,282.0 |
| Services |
262.3 |
| Government consumption expenditures and gross investment |
2,075.5 |
| Federal |
752.2 |
| National defense |
496.4 |
| Nondefense |
255.7 |
| State and local |
1,323.3 |
Lists of countries by their GDP
Calculation
- Classification of Products by Activity (CPA)
- Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM)
External links
Data
- Complete listing of countries by GDP: Purchasing
Power Parity Method (http://aol.countrywatch.com/includes/grank/globrank.asp?TBLS=PPP+Method+Tables&vCOUNTRY=17&TYPE=GRANK)
and Current Exchange
Rate Method (http://aol.countrywatch.com/includes/grank/gdpnumericcer.asp?TYPE=GRANK&TBL=NUMERICCER&vCOUNTRY=17)
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