[lbo-talk] What Does 10 (or 11) Trillion Dollars Actually Mean?

[Doug Henwood]

It's GDP they're referring to - $10.8 trillion of it at last count. 
GDP is "the output of goods and services produced by labor and 
property located in the United States," according to the official 
definition. A couple of important things about it: it's a final sales 
concept, meaning, say, that the value of everything that goes into a 
washing machine is captured by the retail price of the appliance. The 
value of the steel and rubber that goes into it is considered 
"intermediate," not final. Also, it's only about current activity - 
wages paid for work performed. That excludes, for example, capital 
gains. More than you'd ever want to know can be found at 
<http://www.bea.gov/bea/an1.htm>.

Doug