Chapter 6: Q. 23 (page 160)
Why do you suppose that U.S. GDP is so much
higher today than 50 or 100 years ago?
Short Answer
The United States currently has greater technology, more workforce, and more capital than ever before.
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Chapter 6: Q. 23 (page 160)
Why do you suppose that U.S. GDP is so much
higher today than 50 or 100 years ago?
The United States currently has greater technology, more workforce, and more capital than ever before.
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U.S. macroeconomic data are among the best in the world. Given what you learned in the Clear It Up "How do statisticians measure GDP?", does this surprise you, or does this simply reflect the complexity of a modern economy?
Explain briefly whether each of the following would cause GDP to overstate or understate the degree of change
in the broad standard of living.
a. The environment becomes dirtier
b. The crime rate declines
c. A greater variety of goods become available to consumers
d. Infant mortality declines
Should people typically pay more attention to their
real income or their nominal income? If you choose the latter, why would that make sense in today’s world? Would your answer be the same for the 1970s?
List some of the reasons why economists should
not consider GDP an effective measure of the standard of living in a country.
Using data from Table 6.5 how much of the nominal GDP growth from 1980 to 1990 was real GDP and how much was inflation?

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