3 ms·
Wsj quote he cites: > Imports subtract from the Commerce Department’s calculation of GDP Government page he links: > The decrease in real GDP in the first qu
by cosmicgadget 2y ago
Wsj quote he cites:
> Imports subtract from the Commerce Department’s calculation of GDP
Government page he links:
> The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected an increase in imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP
I don't get it. Aren't the journalists reporting and citing the official numbers/methods?
- roenxi 2y agoThere is a powerful technique for working out why an author thinks what they do: reading the entire article. His basic thesis can be summarised with "The short version of the story is this: GDP is a measurement of everything produced within a country’s borders. Imports are produced outside a country’s borders. So imports don’t add to or subtract from GDP. Imports simply aren’t counted in GDP at all." and he justifies it using other words. It is quite a reasonable argument - the accounting formula for GDP (C + I + G + (X − M)) is misleading because the M isn't a subtraction but an adjustment to prevent something like double-counting.
- cosmicgadget 2y agoYou seem to be arguing for the substacker's opinion on GDP calculation and totally ignoring what my comment was about. Which is kind of weird given the snark.