Chapter 8

1. Chapter 8 Measuring the Economy’s Performance

2. Introduction Does a general increase in the level of a nation’s economic activity and the resulting rise in the capability of a person to buy more goods and services tend to make that person happier? To answer this question, economists have to measure not only the level of “happiness” but also the level of the country’s economic activity This chapter will help you understand the measurement of a nation’s overall economic performance.

3. Learning Objectives Describe the circular flow of income and output Define gross domestic product (GDP) Understand the limitations of using GDP as a measure of national welfare

4. Learning Objectives (cont'd) Explain the expenditure approach to tabulating GDP Explain the income approach to computing GDP Distinguish between nominal GDP and real GDP

5. Chapter Outline The Simple Circular Flow National Income Accounting Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP Other Components of National Income Accounting Distinguishing Between Nominal and Real Values Comparing GDP Throughout the World

6. Did You Know That ... U.S. economic activity declined by a greater percentage during the first 18 months of the Great Recession of the late 2000s than during any other 18-month period since World War II? To measure the nation’s overall economic performance, the government utilizes the concept of national income accounting.

7. The Simple Circular Flow The concept of the circular flow of income involves two principles: In every economic exchange, the seller receives exactly the same amount that the buyer spends Goods and services flow in one direction and money payments flow in the other

8. The Simple Circular Flow (cont'd) Profits explained Question Why is profit a cost of production? Answer Profits are the return entrepreneurs receive for the risk they incur when organizing productive activities

9. Figure 8-1 The Circular Flow of Income and Product

10. The Simple Circular Flow (cont'd) Product Markets Transactions in which households buy goods Factor Markets Transactions in which businesses buy resources

11. The Simple Circular Flow (cont'd) Total Income The yearly amount earned by the nation’s resources (factors of production) Includes wages, rent, interest payments, and profits received by workers, landowners, capital owners, and entrepreneurs, respectively

12. The Simple Circular Flow (cont'd) Final Goods and Services Goods and services that are at their final stage of production and will not be transformed into yet other goods or services

13. The Simple Circular Flow (cont'd) Question Why must the dollar value of total output equal total income? Answer Every transaction simultaneously involves an expenditure and a business receipt

14. National Income Accounting National Income Accounting A measurement system used to estimate national income and its components Gross Domestic Product (GDP) The total market value of all final goods and services produced by factors of production located within a nation’s borders

15. National Income Accounting (cont'd) Observations GDP measures the dollar value of final output GDP measures the dollar value of final goods and services produced per year by factors of production located within a nation’s borders

16. National Income Accounting (cont'd) Stress on final output What is a final good? Wheat? Steel? Crude oil? Bread? Automobile? Gasoline?

17. National Income Accounting (cont'd) Intermediate Goods Goods used up entirely in the production of final goods Value Added The dollar value of an industry’s sales minus the value of intermediate goods (for example, raw materials and parts) used in production

18. Table 8-1 Sales Value and Value Added at Each Stage of Donut Production

19. National Income Accounting (cont'd) Numerous transactions occur that have nothing to do with final goods and services being produced: Financial transactions Transfer of secondhand goods Others excluded transactions

20. National Income Accounting (cont'd) Financial transactions Securities Stocks and bonds Government transfer payments Social Security Unemployment compensation Private transfer payments Individual gifts Corporate gifts

21. National Income Accounting (cont'd) Transfer of secondhand goods Why not count the sale of a used computer, guitar, or snowboard as part of GDP? Other excluded transactions Household production Legal and illegal underground transactions

22. National Income Accounting (cont'd) GDP’s limitations Excludes non-market production It is not necessarily a good measure of the well-being of a nation

23. National Income Accounting (cont'd) GDP: Is a measure of the value of production in terms of market prices, and an indicator of economic activity Is not a measure of a nation’s overall welfare

24. International Example: The French Government Seeks to De-emphasize GDP The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, endorsed a report that proposes the development of an alternative measure of economic performance. Similar to the United Nation’s Human Development Index, that alternative measure considers GDP per person along with measures of health and knowledge.

25. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP Expenditure Approach Computing GDP by adding up the dollar value at current market prices of all final goods and services

26. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Income Approach Measuring GDP by adding up all components of national income, including wages, interest, rent, and profits

27. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the expenditure approach Consumption Expenditure (C) Durable Consumer Goods Items that last more than three years (automobiles, furniture) Nondurable Consumer Goods Goods that are used up in three years (gasoline, food) Services Mental or physical help

28. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the expenditure approach Gross Private Domestic Investment (I) The creation of capital goods, such as factories and machines, that can yield production and hence consumption in the future Also includes changes in business inventories and repairs made to machines, buildings

29. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the expenditure approach Gross Private Domestic Investment (I) Producer Durables or Capital Goods Life span of more than three years Fixed Investment Purchases by business of newly produced producer durables or capital goods Inventory Investment Changes in stocks of finished goods and goods in process, as well as changes in raw materials

30. Example: Is Failing to Include Intangibles Depressing Measured Business Fixed Investment? Some economists suggest that because investment is broadly defined as the use of current resources to expand productive capabilities, business fixed investment should also include intangible investment, such as research and employee education. Economist Leonard Nakamura has estimated that if intangible investment had been counted as part of business fixed investment, business fixed investment as a percentage of GDP would have been nearly doubled in recent years.

31. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the Expenditure Approach Government Expenditures (G) State, local, and federal Valued at cost

32. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the Expenditure Approach Net Exports (Foreign Expenditures) Net exports (X) = Total exports – Total imports

33. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Presenting the expenditure approach where C = consumption expenditures I = investment expenditures G = government expenditures X = net exports GDP = C + I + G + X

34. Figure 8-2 GDP and Its Components

35. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Net Domestic Product (NDP) Allowing for depreciation (capital consumption allowance) The amount that businesses would have to save in order to take care of deteriorating machines and other equipment NDP = GDP – Depreciation

36. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Because NDP = GDP – Depreciation, and GDP = C + I + G + X NDP = C + I + G + X – Depreciation NDP = C + net I + G + X where net I (net investment ) = I – Depreciation Domestic investment minus an estimate of the wear and tear on the existing capital stock The change in the capital stock over a one-year period

37. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont’d) Deriving GDP by the Income Approach Gross Domestic Income (GDI) The sum of all income (wages, interest, rent, and profits) paid to the four factors of production

38. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the Income Approach Gross Domestic Income (GDI) Wages: salaries and labor income Rent: farms, houses, stores Interest: savings accounts Profits: sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations

39. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the Income Approach Gross domestic product equals gross domestic income plus indirect business taxes and depreciation These last items are called non-income expense items

40. Two Main Methods of Measuring GDP (cont'd) Deriving GDP by the Income Approach Indirect business taxes All business taxes except the tax on corporate profits Include sales and business property taxes

41. Figure 8-3 Gross Domestic Product and Gross Domestic Income, 2011 (in billions of 2005 dollars per year)

42. Figure 8-3 Gross Domestic Product and Gross Domestic Income, 2011 (in billions of 2005 dollars per year) (cont’d)

43. Other Components of National Income Accounting National Income (NI) The total of all factor payments to resource owners Personal Income (PI) The amount of income that households actually receive before they pay personal income taxes

44. Other Components of National Income Accounting (cont'd) Disposable Personal Income (DPI) Personal income after personal income taxes have been paid

45. Table 8-2 Going from GDP to Disposable Income, 2011

46. Distinguishing Between Nominal and Real Values Nominal Values Measurements in terms of the actual market prices at which goods are sold; expressed in current dollars, also called money values Real Values Measurements after adjustments have been made for changes in the average of prices between years; expressed in constant dollars

47. Distinguishing Between Nominal and Real Values (cont'd) Constant Dollars Dollars expressed in terms of real purchasing power This price-corrected GDP is the real GDP

48. Example: Correcting GDP for Price Index Changes, 2001-2011 Correcting GDP for price index changes Nominal (current) dollars GDP Real (constant) dollars GDP Nominal GDP Price index* Real GDP = x 100 *Price index: measured by the GDP deflator

49. Table 8-3 Correcting GDP for Price Index Changes

50. Figure 8-4 Nominal and Real GDP