Easily Confused (62) GDP

Donald Trump on GDP:

I already understood more about GDP in 9th grade. But then, I just went to a regular public school.

Robert Kennedy on GDP:

About Andreas Moser

Travelling the world and writing about it. I have degrees in law and philosophy, but I'd much rather be a writer, a spy or a hobo.
This entry was posted in Economics, History, Politics, USA and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Easily Confused (62) GDP

  1. David says:

    I don’t really like RFK’s bit. Of course the GDP doesn’t measure those things – it’s not supposed to. My car doesn’t make me coffee either.

    The only thing one could say is that GDP isn’t the be-all and end-all. But who would say it is?

    • Well, when you study economics or read the financial pages in the newspaper or look at charts trying to tell you which countries are richer than others, there is always the GDP – with the additional problem of data being compared that was collected in different countries.

      I don’t think Mr Kennedy criticized the GDP for not measuring unmeasurable things, but he criticized the importance attributed to it. Even for economic output, it’s a very flawed and incomplete measure. If there is a hurricane and we need to repair a lot of broken glass, it increases the GDP. If someone makes a great invention that makes cars cheaper, it lowers the GDP (unless more cars would be sold, but then people wouldn’t buy something else with the same money).

    • David says:

      OK, so like i said, it’s not the be-all and end-all, but it does give a general indicator as to the overall direction.

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