The Reliability of the GDP and GDI Estimates

摘要

THE NATIONAL income and product accounts (NIPAs) provide a timely, comprehensive, and reliable description of the condition of the U.S. economy. The two featured measures - gross domestic product (GDP) and gross domestic income (GDI) - are equally valid summary measures of economic activity. GDP measures activity as the sum of all final expenditures in the economy plus change in private inventories. It is detailed on the product side of the domestic income and product account. GDI measures the sum of all incomes generated in production, and it is detailed on the income side of the domestic income and product account. In principle, GDP and GDI give the same measure of economic activity, but in practice, they differ because each is estimated with different source data.