Part 1: Expenditures Approach to Calculating GDP (weight 25% of the assignment grade) Complete the following exercise
Visit the Bureau of Economic Analysis website at www.bea.gov. From the drop-down menu under "Data," click on "by Economics Account." Then click on "National," "Gross Domestic Product, and "Full Release and Tables." Use table 3 - Gross Domestic Product: Level and Change From Preceding Period. The table contains nominal data on the left side and real data (in 2012 $) on the right.
a) Create the table that contains the following information for the last quarter. You need this information from both tables. Omit the intermediate lines found in Tables 3 on the web site.
Gross domestic product
Personal consumption expenditures
Gross private domestic investment
Net exports of goods and services
Government consumption expenditures and gross investment
1. b) Calculate the percentage (the proportion) of each category in nominal GDP and in real GDP.
Using Nominal GDP:
[Personal consumption expenditures / Nominal GDP]*100%
[Gross private domestic investment / Nominal GDP]*100%
[Net exports of goods and services / Nominal GDP]*100%
[Government consumption expenditures and gross investment/ Nominal GDP]*100%
And using Real GDP:
[Personal consumption expenditures / Real GDP]*100%
[Gross private domestic investment / Real]*100%
[Net exports of goods and services / Real GDP]*100%
[Government consumption expenditures and gross investment/ Real GDP]*100%
Present the information that you received in 1 (a) and 1 (b) as a table(s) in your project.
2. Write a report (2 pages double - spaced), which contains an analysis of the results you received.
In this report consider, but do not be limited to the following:
1. Why was the nominal GDP greater than the real GDP? By how much?
2. GDP is composed of a number of categories. What category makes up the largest portion of GDP? What category makes up the smallest portion of GDP?
3. What is "Gross private domestic investment"? What does gross private domestic investment measure?
4. What is "Net exports of goods and services"? Why it is negative?
5. In the table 3 find the category "National defense." How much was the National defense for the last quarter? Calculate percentage of National defense out of "Government consumption expenditures and gross investment." Calculate percentage of National defense out of GDP.
6. Please analyze and discuss the significance of the data that you received for this Data exercise. Reflect on what you have learned from this exercise.