5 ms·

GDP itself is a mathematical model too - just a much more sophisticated one which utilizes more data.

• JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > GDP itself is a mathematical model GDP is a metric. The specific way in which we construct it is based on a small zoo of models, each working to estimate a myriad of parameters.
  • gruez 2y ago
    It's estimated via a model. We don't actually know the value of all economic activities happening in the country. We just have statisticians survey some fraction of businesses on how they're doing, and plug those result into a model to estimate how the entire country's doing.
    • JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > It's estimated via a model So is every physical constant. The gravitational constant is a metric. We then measure it by way of models. GDP isn’t a model per se. GDPNow is.