Gross Domestic Product — the total monetary value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders in a given period, the broadest measure of economic output.
GDP is the primary scorecard for an economy's size and growth. Using the expenditure approach: GDP = C + I + G + (X − M), where C is consumer spending, I is private investment, G is government spending, X is exports, and M is imports. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis releases quarterly GDP estimates in three versions — advance, second, and third — each progressively more complete as more data arrives.
Nominal GDP measures output in current prices; real GDP adjusts for inflation to show how much actual volume changed. Real GDP growth is the standard metric: the US has historically averaged about 2–2.5% annually over the long run. Growth above potential is associated with inflationary pressure; growth below potential with rising unemployment.
GDP is a lagging indicator — it tells us what happened, not what is happening now. It also has well-known shortcomings: it counts all economic activity, including things that reduce welfare (cleaning up disasters, preventable healthcare spending), while missing unpaid work, leisure, inequality, and environmental degradation. GDP per capita, the Human Development Index, and other measures attempt to capture dimensions of wellbeing that GDP ignores.
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