PART TWO MACROECONOMICS专业英语2.docVIP

PART TWO MACROECONOMICS Outlays and Components of Demand In the previous sections, we started with GNP and asked how much of the value of goods and services produced actually gets into the hands of households. In this section we present a different perspective on GNP1 by asking who buys the output, rather than who receives the income. More technically, we look at the demand for output and speak of the components of the aggregate demand for goods and services. Total demand for domestic output is made up of four components: (1) consumption spending by households; (2)investment spending by businesses or households; (3) government (federal, state, and local) purchases of goods and services;and (4) foreign demand. We shall now look more closely at each of these components. Consumption Table 2-1 presents a breakdown of the demand2 for goods and services in 1982 by components of demand. The table shows that the chief component of demand is consumption spending by the personal sector. This includes anything from food to golf lessons, but involves also, as we shall see in discussing investment, consumer spending on durable goods such as automobiles—spending which might be regarded as investment rather than consumption. Table 2-1 GNP and Components of Demand, 1982 (In Billions of Dollars) Personal consumption expenditures $1,991.9 64.8% Gross private domestic investment 414. 5 13. 5 Government purchases of goods and services 649. 2 21.1 Net exports of goods and services 17. 4 0. 6 Gross national product 3,073. 0 100. 0 Source:Data Resource, Inc. 9 Government Next in importance we have government purchases of goods and services. Here we have such items as national defense expenditures, road paving by state and local governments, and salaries of government employees. We draw attention to the use of certain words in connection with government spending. We refer to government spending on goods and services as purchases of goods and services, and we speak of transfers plus p