The U.S. Economy: A Global ViewThe U.S. Economy: A Global ViewChapter 2

Copyright © 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

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The U.S. Economy

• Economic outcomes vary greatly across nations– WHAT goods and services does the United States

produce?– HOW is that output produced?– FOR WHOM is the output produced?

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What America Produces

• The U.S. has 12 percent of the world’s arable land and less than 5 percent of the world’s population

• The U.S. produces more than 20 percent of the world’s output

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Gross Domestic Product

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total market value of all final goods and services produced within a nation’s borders in a given time period

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Comparative Output

The market value of output (GDP) is a basic measure of an economy’s size.

Source: From World Development Report 2009. www.worldbank.org.

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Per Capita GDP

• Per Capita GDP: The dollar value of GDP divided by total population; average GDP– Output per person in an economy if all output were

divided up evenly across the population

• Economic growth: An increase in output (real GDP); an expansion of production possibilities

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GDP Per Capita Around the World

Per capita GDP is a measure of output that reflects average living standards.

Source: From World Development Report 2009. www.worldbank.org.

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Growth in Per Capita GDP

• To attain growth in GDP per capita, the economy needs a higher rate of GDP growth than population growth– U.S. output has grown by roughly 3 percent per

year– U.S. population grows by about 1 percent per year

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U.S. Output and Population Growth

The growth of output in the United States has greatly exceeded population growth.

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GDP Growth vs Population Growth  Average Growth Rate (2000–2007) of  GDP Population Per Capita GDP         High-income countries      

United States 2.7 0.9 1.8 Canada 2.7 1.0 1.7 Japan 1.7 0.1 1.6 France 1.7 0.7 1.0        Low-income countries China 10.2 0.6 9.6 India 7.8 1.4 6.4 Madagascar 3.3 2.8 0.5 Niger 3.9 3.5 0.4 Haiti 0.2 1.6 - 1.4 Ivory Coast 0.2 1.7 - 1.5 Zimbabwe - 4.4 0.8 - 5.2 Zambia - 5.7 1.9 - 7.6

Populations of rich countries are growing slowly, and gains in per capita GDP are easily achieved.

In the poorest countries, population is still increasing rapidly, making it difficult to raise living standards.

Source: From World Development Report, 2009. www.worldbank.org.

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The Mix of Output

• The mix of output includes goods and services– A century ago, about two-thirds of U.S. output

consisted of goods while one-third of output consisted of services.

– Today, nearly 75 percent of U.S. output now consists of services, not goods.

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Development Patterns

• The transformation of the U.S. into a service economy is a reflection of high incomes

• Citizens in poor countries don’t have enough income to buy many services, so production is weighted toward goods

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How America Produces

• Production in every nation depends on its available resources

• Differences in GDP across countries is explained by HOW those resources are used

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The Education Gap Between Rich and Poor Nations

The high productivity of the American economy is explained in part by the quality of its labor resources. Workers in poorer, less developed countries get much less education and training.

Source: From World Development Indicators, 2009. www.worldbank.org.

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Capital Stock

• America has accumulated a massive stock of capital, including machinery, factories, and buildings

• Capital-intensive: Production processes that use a high ratio of capital to labor inputs

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High Productivity

• Productivity: Output per unit of input, such as output per labor hour

• The high productivity of the U.S economy results from using highly educated workers in capital-intensive production processes

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Factor Mobility

• Our continuing ability to produce also depends on our agility in reallocating resources

• Land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship move from one industry to another in response to changing demands and technology

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Technological Advance

• Technological Advance: Finding new and better ways to produce goods and services

• Whenever technology advances, an economy can produce more output with existing resources

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Outsourcing and Trade

• Advancing technology facilitates global resource use

• Outsourcing allows U.S. workers to pursue their comparative advantage in high-skill, capital-intensive jobs

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Economic Freedom and Growth

• As nations become freer, relying more on markets and less on government, GDP growth is enhanced

• Government plays a critical role in establishing a framework in which private business can operate

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For Whom America Produces

• How many goods and services one gets largely depends on how much income one has to spend

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U.S. Income Distribution

• Income quintile: One-fifth of the population, rank-ordered by income

• The top 20 percent (quintile) of U.S. households get half of all U.S. income

• The poorest 20 percent (quintile) get less than 4 percent of all income

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U.S. Distribution of Income

Income Quintile 2007 Income Average

IncomeShare of Total

Income (%)

       

Highest fifth above $100,000 $168,000 49.7

Second fifth $62,000 – 100,000 $ 79,000 23.4

Third fifth $39,000 – 62,000 $ 50,000 14.8

Fourth fifth $20,000 – 39,000 $ 29,000 8.7

Lowest fifth $0 – 20,000 $ 12,000 3.4 Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census

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Global Inequality

• Income disparities are greater in many other countries

• Poor people in the United States receive more goods and services than the average household in most low-income countries

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Ending Global Poverty

• Over 3 billion people still live in poverty• The World Bank has ambitious goals for 2015

– Reduce poverty and hunger by one-half– Achieve universal primary education– Reduce child and maternal mortality by two-thirds– Reduce by half the number of people without

access to potable water

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Ending Global Poverty

• People in rich countries also aspire to higher living standards

• The challenge is to find the right balance between market and government forces