Tracking the US Economy
par Mark A Sutton
1. Leakages & Injections
1.1. Leakages
1.1.1. Any diversion of income from spending
1.2. Injection
1.2.1. Spending or income from sources other than earnings
1.3. Leakages = Injection
2. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
2.1. What is GDP?
2.1.1. Market value of all final goods and services produced during a year
2.1.2. Produced by resources located in the US
2.2. Limitations
2.2.1. Production not included
2.2.1.1. Do-it-yourself
2.2.1.1.1. Ex: child care, house cleaning, laundry, home maintenance
2.2.1.2. Underground economy
2.2.1.2.1. Unreported economic activities
2.2.2. Ignores negative externalities
2.2.3. Ignores depletion of natural resources
2.3. What's not included
2.3.1. Intermediate goods
3. Accounting for price changes
3.1. Nominal GDP
3.1.1. GDP based on prices at the time of production
3.2. Real GDP
3.2.1. GDP adjusted for inflation
3.3. Price indexes
3.3.1. Consumer Prie Index (CPI)
3.3.1.1. Unit of measure based on the cost of a fixed market basket of goods & services