Measuring+the+Macroeconomy

US GDP

 * [|Bureau of Economic Analysis: US GDP Data]
 * [|Taking the Pulse of the Economy: Measuring GDP] - this article from the Journal of Economic Perspectives answers the questions: What specific data is used to calculate GDP? What is the difference between the quarterly estimates initially released and the adjustments to those estimates released later?  These issues are frequent topics of discussion in the business press, so it is good to have a solid understanding of these issues, but they are beyond the scope of this course.

International Comparisons

 * [|Country Snapshots] - graphs of basic measurements of different countries' economies across time in a common format.
 * [|Penn World Table, Center for International Comparisons]

Note: What Section 2.4 refers to as adjusting "for the relative price level of goods in the United States versus China" is sometimes referred to as adjusting for purchasing power parity (PPP), but this is not to be confused with the [|purchasing power parity hypothesis]. Our textbook avoids the use of this term in either case to sidestep potential confusion. 
 * [|The Use of Purchasing-Power-Parity Exchange Rates in Economic Modeling: An Expository Note] is an accessible discussion of the implications of using purchasing power parity versus market exchange rates for international comparisons, which is also often discussed in the press.

Inflation
>> *or the [|comparable number for 10 years]
 * [|Measuring Inflation primer] from the Cleveland Fed
 * The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the most common measure of inflation in the U.S. The most difficult part about measuring changes in prices is adjusting for changes in quality (e.g. an iPhone may cost more than the cell phone you bought a few years ago, but that's probably not inflation) - you can read about how the CPI adjusts for quality here: [] Some common controversies/misconceptions about the CPI are addressed here: []
 * The [|Billion Prices Project] tracks online prices on a daily basis, providing a useful alternative to the CPI.
 * People [|sometimes claim] that the price of gold is the best measure of inflation, but this relies on the magical notion that the usual forces of supply and demand don't affect the price of gold. In fact, there is good reason to expect big changes in the price of gold that have nothing to do with inflation: e.g. [].  The price of gold may also be subject to [|bubbles].
 * Measuring expectations of future inflation - http://baselinescenario.com/2009/04/08/inflation-expectations-for-beginners/
 * Short version: If you are sure that the average inflation rate over the next 5 years will be higher or lower than the number here, [],* you can make lots of easy money. But I wouldn't be so sure.  ;)
 * Here's another estimate: []