第2章宏观经济学的数据1讲义.ppt

简要评述 用不同的办法计算GDP，得到的结果是相同的。 在实际计算中，由于经济活动的复杂性以及经济信息传递的不完全性，计算中会出现疏漏和误差，三种方法计算的结果可能不一致。 * * * * * * * * * * * These are three of the most important economic statistics. Policymakers and businesspersons use them to monitor the economy and formulate appropriate policies. Economists use them to develop and test theories about how the economy works. Because we’ll be learning many of these theories, it’s worth spending some time now to really understand what these statistics mean, and how they are measured. * This is why economists often use the terms income, output, expenditure, and GDP interchangeably. * This is why economists often use the terms income, output, expenditure, and GDP interchangeably. * If you do not wish to pose this as a question, you can “hide” this slide and “unhide” the next one, which simply gives students the information. Suggestion (applies generally, not just here): When you pose this (or any) question to your class, don’t ask for students to volunteer their answers right away. Instead, tell them to think about it for a minute and write their answer down on paper. Then, ask for volunteers (or call on students at random). Giving students this extra minute will increase the quality of participation as well as the number of students who participate. Correct answer to the question: Unsold output adds to inventory, and thus counts as inventory investment – whether intentional or unplanned. Thus, it’s as if a firm “purchased” its own inventory accumulation. Here’s where the “goods purchased for future use” definition of investment is handy: When firms add newly produced goods to their inventory, the “future use” of those goods, of course, is future sales. Note, also, that inventory investment counts intentional as well as unplanned inventory changes. Thus, when firms sell fewer units than planned, the unsold units go into inventory and are counted as inventory investment. This explains why “output = expenditure” -- the