GDP: Part 1/6

The gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of a country's overall economic output. It is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a country in a year. It is often positively correlated with the standard of living.

You might be surprised to find out that the United States is not #1 when it comes to economic output or GDP. The European Union beats us by more than 2 trillion dollars according to the IMF, World Bank, and CIA. Of course, individually we blow the members of the EU out of the water. We are after all the sole super power in a land where poor means not having HDTV. Such a high GDP connected to our standard of living affords even the common folk a lifestyle never before seen in the wrtten history of mankind. What is GDP you ask? The formula for determining is as follows:

GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports)

You'll notice that government spending is a ¼ part of the equation. Along with private consumption, gross investment and then exports minus imports. You add all these numbers up and you get the GDP of a country. The higher the GDP the higher the standard of living. What if there was a political party that focused on maintaining and improving each of these four things. What if there was a country that every economic test was to find out first if a certain course of action would improve one of these four things with negatively effecting any of the others? In the next four parts I'll discuss each of these four things and what the US can do to improve them and finally in the 6^th part I will summarize.