So i was on this website... http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp... and it had the data for the Current-Dollar and "Real" Gross Domestic Product from the year 1929 on. http://www.bea.gov/national/xls/gdplev.xls is the excel document in which the data is contained. I thought i was really interesting that the only time we didnt have a rise in GDP was during the great depression. Even with the quarterly estimates of this year the numbers rose. ANother thing i thought was really interesting was the fact that in 1929 the GDP was at
103.6, which was really high compared to the following years of the great depression. Accoring to the data, the united states didnt recover from the crash until 1940 where the GDP was almost where it was in 1929 at 101.4. Another fact that I found interesting is that the data shows both
GDP in billions of current dollars and GDP in billions of chained 2000 dollars, which gives vastly different data for each year. My question to the reader is this... they show the data as such because the value of the has changed over time.... people get paid more and they also pay more for things as Naked Economics points out, but yet what we get paid has increased proportionally faster than the prices... does this show a large amount of "deflation" over time... and if so... what do you think is the cause?? just wondering your thoughts
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Why hello...
This is a blog for my AP ECON class and it is titled "gonnageta5" because I believe in positive thinking. You will acomplish only what you expect from yourself. I am challenging myself in saying that I am going to get a five on the ap exam... since I dont want to be a liar, I better stop typing and go study cause this stuff is hard!!
3 comments:
The GDP doesn't reflect the difference between the rich and the poor. Though the GDP may be rising, the concern today is the disappearance of the middle class. I also have a couple questions: Does the data include money paid in taxes? Do we have more taxes today?
We have higher taxes because we get paid more, but is that reflecting the inflation or just the GDP?
The really misleading part of the numbers is that it doesn't show percentage change from the past year. We have been in recessions since the Great Depression (where the percentage of GDP is falling from year to year), and when you look just at the numbers, that's difficult to see.
GDP shows only what is made in one year - it's production only. So, it gives a dollar value to everything made in a country in one year and adds it all up. So, no, it doesn't show taxes being paid, and yes, we have more taxes now (there weren't income taxes for quite a few years).
No, it doesn't show deflation - the government is terrified of deflation and would nip it in the bud if it ever showed up. The deflation during the Depression really affected how the gov views such things.
So the inflation affects how we see these numbers. To see more realistically you have to view the other group that Morgan posted - the adjusted for inflation. That makes it a little better, but percentages are even easier to comprehend.
Post a Comment