Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 8 The Data of Macroeconomics Chapter 23 of 36 Measuring A Nation’s Income Section 13 of 15 … Gross Domestic Product (GDP) does not directly measure things that make life better, but it does measure our ability to obtain the inputs that help make life better. Leisure, a major part of a good life, is left out of GDP. Suppose everyone in the economy started working every day of the week and not take Saturday and Sunday off for leisure. More goods would be produced and GDP would rise. Despite the increase in GDP we would not conclude everyone is better off. … GDP uses market prices to value goods and services, so it excludes the value of activity outside markets. GDP omits the value of goods produced at home. When a chef prepares a meal and sells it at his restaurant, the value of the meal is included in GDP. If the chef prepares the same meal at home for his family, the value he has added to the raw ingredien
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“Wherever good fortune enters, envy lays siege and attacks it. And when it departs, sorrow and repentance remain behind.” - Leonardo da Vinci .... “The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” -William James “All experience has shown mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” - Thomas Jefferson
From article The climate grift continues. Hugo Gudon. November 23, 2022. The U.N. Climate Conference has left behind a terrible stench. But it doesn’t come from the 400 jets that flew world leaders to that exercise in retributive multilateral egalitarianism last weekend. Carbon dioxide is an odorless gas, so even though DO-GOODING POLS PUMPED THOUSANDS OF TONS OF CO2 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, the rank smell they left in their wake is not a physical one perceived by the olfactory senses. … The miasma rising into the sunny winter skies over Egypt’s resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, and which is now spreading around the globe, is THE NOISOME ODOR OF WILLFUL UNSERIOUSNESS, HUMBUG, AND HYPOCRISY. The conference decided the world’s successful nations should pay hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe trillions, to unsuccessful ones to compensate for supposed harm done to them by industrialization. … A portion of the outrage is China, the world’s biggest polluter and second-largest economy, may be allow
Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 8 The Data of Macroeconomics Chapter 23 of 36 Measuring A Nation’s Income Section 12 of 15 … Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been called the best single measure of a society’s economic well-being. GDP measures the economy's total income and total expenditure on goods and services. Dividing GDP by the population number gives us income and expenditure of the average person. Level of GDP and growth rate of GDP are main measures of economic well-being. … Some say GDP does not measure quality of life. People of some poor countries poll as being happier than people in rich countries. So, why do we care about GDP? In fact, a large GDP does help us lead a good life. GDP does not measure our children’s health, but nations with larger a GDP can afford better healthcare for children. GDP does not measure education quality, but nations with a larger GDP can afford better education systems. GDP does not measure
“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” -William James “All experience has shown mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.” - Thomas Jefferson
Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 8 The Data of Macroeconomics Chapter 23 of 36 Measuring A Nation’s Income Section 11 of 15 … Figure 2 here … Figure 2 - Real GDP in the United States Real means inflation-adjusted. This figure shows quarterly data on real GDP for the U.S. economy since 1965. The shaded vertical bars indicate recessions, which are periods of declining real GDP. … Note - Figure 2 is from the 5th edition of the Mankiw textbook published in 2008, before the 2008~2009 recession. Figure 2 data shows how real GDP grows over time. 2007 real GDP was almost four times higher than 1965. U.S. average real GDP growth has been 3.2 percent per year from 1965 to 2007. Figure 2 shows at times GDP growth is interrupted by periods of declines, called recessions. Recessions are generally considered to be a decline of real GDP over two consecutive quarters. A main activity of macroeconomists is to analyze and explain real GDP long-run growth a
From article Even amid murderous Russian raids, western apathy is Kyiv’s deadliest foe. Simon Tisdall. November 27, 2022. Putin’s missiles are raining down on Ukrainians, but the BIGGEST DANGER UKRAINE FACES IS WEAKENING SUPPORT FROM THE US AND EUROPE. … A two-day-old baby is killed in an attack on a maternity ward in southern Ukraine. Officials say at least 437 children have died since Russia’s invasion began. More than 800 have been injured. How many kids are permanently traumatised is anybody’s guess. EVERY DAY, VLADIMIR PUTIN GETS AWAY WITH MURDER. … The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station is shelled again, despite repeated UN warnings of Europe-wide catastrophe. In liberated Kherson, more grisly evidence of war crimes is uncovered. Wherever the Russians go, it’s the same horror story. Every day the killers go unpunished. Relentless waves of indiscriminate missile strikes darken Ukrainian skies, pulverising apartment blocks, clinics, shopping centres and schools. MOSCOW NO LONGER
From article Federal Trade Report: Globalization Cripples American Towns as Free Trade Moves Jobs Overseas, Crushes Wages. John Binder. November 20, 2022. Globalization of the United States economy has had a crippling impact on American towns as FREE TRADE MAKES IT EASIER FOR COMPANIES TO MOVE PRODUCTION AND JOBS OVERSEAS, a report from the U.S. International Trade Commission details. The report, which assembled union representatives, economists, and others to discuss the impact of decades-long U.S. free trade policy, was requested by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and conducted in March and April of this year. … Among other findings, the report found U.S. free trade policy has allowed companies to more readily move American jobs overseas and keep wages low for jobs that remain in the U.S. “Participants identified trade policy as the cause of job losses. One union representative noted trade policies often have loopholes or are manipulated by China and other countries so the