In macroeconomics, the most common way economists and policymakers measure the health of an overall
economy is by examining gross domestic product, or GDP. Gross means total, domestic means within
a country’s borders, and product means the value of all goods and services produced. However,
that’s a bit of an oversimplification, so let’s look at the complete definition.
Gross domestic product is the value of all final goods and services produced within a
country’s borders in a given year. Note the emphasis on “final” and “in a given year.”
Final goods are also called “finished goods.” A final good is one that will not be sold again as
part of some other good. If a baker buys flour, sugar, and butter, we don’t count those as final
goods, because the baker will use those goods to make a cake. In other words, they are goods that
aren’t finished yet, they are intermediate goods. Now, the cake the baker made using that flour,
sugar, and butter, is a final good since the cake is the final product, and its final destination is
the consumer. In other words, a customer will buy it and consume it. There are also goods that are
used to make other goods but are still considered final goods. These are called “capital goods.”
For example, if a farmer buys a combine to harvest his crops, the combine is considered a final good.
Even though the combine is used to produce other goods, it won’t be sold again as part of another
good. There are also capital goods used to provide services counted as final goods. For example, if a
landscaper buys a chainsaw in order to take down trees, the chainsaw is considered a final good.
GDP also only counts production in a given year. If an old car is sold this year,
economists don’t count it as part of GDP since the car wasn’t produced this year. They only
count new cars sold this year as part of GDP. Also, production is only counted if the good or
service is produced within a country’s borders. For example, if you are in the United States and
buy a shirt imported from Vietnam, that adds to Vietnam’s GDP, not the United States GDP. But a
movie made in the United States that is shown in theaters in Vietnam adds to the United States GDP.
It’s helpful to think of the entire economy of a country as one big hypermarket store,
meaning they sell pretty much everything you could possibly ever want to buy. Not just products like
food and clothing, but also services like pet grooming and tax preparation. Every time a
consumer buys a final good or service, we record the cost, just like at a cash register. All the
cost combined over a given year is the GDP. Government economists often divide final
goods and services into four categories. Consumer goods and services, business goods and services,
government goods and services, and net exports. Net exports are found by simply adding up exports
and subtracting imports. Government economists can also calculate GDP using another method. Instead
of adding up all the stuff that consumers, businesses, and the government buys, it can
add up all the incomes in the economy. There is also nominal GDP and real GDP. Nominal GDP is
measured in current prices. Real GDP is measured in constant, or unchanging prices. In other words,
real GDP is nominal GDP but adjusted for inflation. Real GDP is a more accurate way
to measure economic growth, since inflation can distort the actual value of goods and services.
However, GDP is not a perfect way to assess the health of a country’s economy. First of all, GDP
doesn’t take into account many things that could be considered part of an economy. For example,
it doesn’t measure non-market activities, or goods and services that people make or do themselves,
like mowing their own lawn or washing their own car. It doesn’t measure the underground economy,
like in the black market, or market for illegal goods, as well as transactions that are legal
but simply not reported. GDP also doesn’t measure unintended negative externalities. For example,
a power plant that creates air pollution by emitting dust and smoke into the air is not
subtracted from the GDP. GDP makes no adjustment for leisure time. For example, if workers get
more time off in one country yet produce the same amount, they are not rewarded for it.
GDP counts goods and services even when those goods and services are created after
disasters. For example, if a tornado wipes out a building, GDP automatically increases when a
new building takes its place. And finally, GDP doesn’t account for how goods and services are
distributed. It doesn’t affect the GDP if lots is produced and most of it only goes to a small
minority of the wealthiest individuals. One way economists attempt to calculate a
slightly more accurate measure of a country’s economy is by figuring out its GDP per capita.
Like the name suggests, to get GDP per capita you just take a country’s GDP and divide by
its population. To quickly illustrate this difference, let’s look at Germany and China.
In 2020, China’s GDP was 17.7 trillion USD and Germany's GDP was 3.8 trillion USD. However,
Germany’s GDP per capita was 45,724 dollars and China’s GDP per capita was just 10,511 dollars.
Some economists have called for alternatives to GDP, in order to more accurately assess the health
of a country’s economy with a general emphasis on quality of life. Some of these alternatives
include the Human Development Index, Inclusive Wealth Index, and Genuine Progress Indicator.
Regardless, gross domestic product continues to be the go-to metric government policymakers
rely on when planning for their country’s economic future, because institutions are better equipped
to measure its components, and the clarity of its definition reduces the likelihood of infusing
bias. In this way, GDP remains the primary way to quickly measure the health of an economy.