Comments on: GDP Doesn’t Matter, GDP Per Capita Does

By: John

John — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:36:52 +0000

Is USA’s GDP per capita really $48,000 as CIA factbook states? More realistic figure would be somewhere $15,000 closer to East Europe.

By: Barbara Lahey

Barbara Lahey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:13:36 +0000

We may not fit the terms of an official “recession” yet (thanks stimulus check) we just had the first retraction in our GDP of .03% so its on its way!

http://recession.org

By: Barbara Lahey

Barbara Lahey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:10:29 +0000

We may not fit the terms of an official

By: praveenghanta

praveenghanta — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:22:15 +0000

Good point – in the US, at least, median real disposable income would be a better metric. That’s not as true in Europe or Japan, which have much higher rates of public spending, however – and GDP per capita is readily available for almost all countries.

I’ve really conflated two points here, perhaps ineffectively: 1) Using GDP growth as a measure of economic advancement is inaccurate, and overstates America’s lead on other developed economies, and 2) in a recession, the bite will be far worse than the media/politicians tell us, because both negative growth and population are working against us.

By: Vivek Mohta

Vivek Mohta — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:28:34 +0000

An important observation as always. You noted that: While GDP per capita doesn’t take into account income inequality and other measures that impact individual well-being, it does a much better job of measuring how economic growth is impacting our lives over time. I'm curious if you considered median real disposable personal income as a potentially better measure that accounts for both population growth, income inequality, inflation, and taxes/transfers. The median better reflects the slice "an “average” American has" as opposed to the "average slice an American has." Adjusting for inflation and taxes/transfers reflects the what the "average American" actually has for saving and spending. I imagine different measures are appropriate for different applications. For example, I think the one I mentioned might be an important driver of presidential politics.