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Introduction to
Macroeconomics
PART
2

The two chapters in this part of the text introduce macroeconomic con-
cepts and models. They explain the measurement of macroeconomic
activity and performance, and introduce the aggregate demand and
supply model used to explain national output, prices, employment, and
business cycle fluctuations in economic activity.

Chapter 4: Measuring National Economic Activity and

Performance
Chapter 5: Output, Business Cycles, and Employment

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Measuring National
Economic Activity and
C H A P T E R

4
Performance

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this chapter you should understand:

1. Three main indicators of macroeconomic activity and performance

2. Canadian economic performance
3. National accounting measures of the economy
4. Nominal and real GDP and the GDP deflator
5. Per capita real GDP

Macroeconomic performance and policy dominated the media, political debates, and
public discussion in 2008 and 2009. A financial crisis originating in the American
financial and housing markets had deep and profound impacts on U.S. banks and
households. Major financial institutions collapsed on an international scale. Output
and employment fell sharply and continuously in the midst of the most dramatic reces-
sion since the 1980s. Recession spread quickly and widely to other countries through
international capital markets and financial flows, trade flows, commodity prices, and
exchange rates. The crisis triggered unprecedented government intervention in U.S
and European financial markets and calls for large and innovative changes in both
monetary and fiscal policy stimulus. The media reported widely and pessimistically
on the prospects for a deep and prolonged slump in national economies.
Macroeconomic theory and models emerged from an earlier major financial col-
lapse and crisis followed by the depression years of the 1930s. Macroeconomics studies
the national economy as a system. It starts with carefully developed measures of the
economy’s total output of goods and services, and expenditures on current output by
households, businesses, national governments, and residents of other countries.
Expenditures generate incomes for households and businesses and, through taxation,

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 67

revenues for governments. Money, banking, financial markets, and foreign exchange
markets play key roles in financing these expenditure flows. Macroeconomics explains
the ways in which different parts of the economy interact to determine outputs, in-
comes, prices, and employment in the whole economy.
The links between macroeconomic performance and policy have dominated media
discussions in recent years. Newspapers, radio news reports, and the TV news have
reported extensively on financial market turmoil, output growth, predictions of pro-
longed recession or rapid recovery, jobs lost, the unemployment rate, prices, and risks
of inflation or deflation. These are all measures of economic activity at the national
level. The media also report on budget surpluses or deficits; the central bank’s decisions
to set interest rates; and exchange rates and equity markets like the S&P/TSX, and Dow
Jones Industrial Average.
To understand how these different dimensions of economic activity and economic
conditions are tied together we need a framework that recognizes how they are related
and how they interact. Macroeconomics provides that framework, based on a consistent
and comprehensive system of definitions for the measurement of economic activity in
the national economy.

4.1 Three Main Indicators of Macroeconomic Activity

Output, price, and employment are three main indicators of macroeconomic activity
and performance. Output is a measure of the total quantity of goods and services pro-
duced in the economy. It is also a measure of the incomes generated by that production.
Price or the price level in macroeconomics is the weighted average of the market prices
of all final goods and services produced. The price level reflects the costs of production
in the economy. Employment is a measure of the number of jobs involved in the pro-
duction of goods and services, or, in more refined terms, the number of hours of labour
input required to produce the economy’s output.
Real gross domestic product (real GDP) measures output and income. Real GDP Real GDP measures the
is the quantity of final goods and service produced in the economy in a specific time quantity of final goods
period, say, one year, measured in the market prices of a base year, 2002, for example. and services produced by
the economy in a specified
(It may also be called GDP in constant 2002 dollars.) As we will see later in this chapter,
time period and the real
the production of goods and services generates incomes equal to the value of those incomes generated by that
goods and services. As a result, real GDP is also the real income in the economy and the production.
quantity of goods and services the economy can afford to buy.
When we look at the economy over time we see that real GDP changes from year to
year. Because we measure real GDP in the prices of a base year, the changes we see in
Economic growth is an
real GDP are the result of changes in the quantities of goods and services produced and
increase in real GDP.
not the result of changes in prices. This distinction is important. Increased quantities
of goods and services provide for increased standards of living in the economy. Increases The rate of growth in
in prices do not. As a result, we define economic growth as an increase in real GDP, real GDP is the annual
and the rate of economic growth is the annual percentage change in real GDP. The percentage change in
rate of growth in real GDP is calculated as follows: real GDP.

Real GDPyear 2 2 Real GDPyear 1

Rate of growth of real GDP 5 3 100 (4.1)
Real GDPyear 1

Recent measures of real GDP in Canada provide an example of economic growth

and the calculation of the rate of economic growth. In the year 2006, real GDP in

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68 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

Canada measured in 2002 dollars was $1,282 billion. In 2005, real GDP in 2002 dollars
was $1,248 billion. Using these data:

$1282 2 $1248
Rate of growth of real GDP in 2006 5 3 100 5 2.7%
$1248

Similarly, real GDP in 2007 was $1,311 billion, which means that the rate of growth
in 2007 was 2.3 percent. We will examine GDP growth rates over longer time periods
in the next section of this chapter.
The price level in the
economy is a measure The price level in the economy is a measure of the weighted average of prices of a
of the average prices wide variety of goods and services. Section 2.3 in Chapter 2 explained how a price index
of all goods and services is constructed and used to provide a measure of prices in one year compared with prices
produced. in a base year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), for example, compares the cost of a
A price index is a mea- fixed basket of goods and services bought by the typical household at a specific time
sure of the price level in with the cost of that same basket of goods and services in the base year. It is the most
one year compared with widely used indicator of prices in Canada and is often referred to as the “cost of living.”
prices in a base year. Application Box 4.1 shows the recent data in the Consumer Price Index in
The Consumer Price Canada. Today, the base year for the consumer price index is 2002, and the base year
Index (CPI) compares the value of the index is set at 100. In 2006 Statistics Canada reported a CPI of 109.1.
cost of living in one year That means the cost of the basket of goods and services in 2006 was 9.1 percent
to the cost of living in a higher than it was in 2002. Prices and the cost of living increased over the four-year
base year. period. At the end of 2007 the CPI was 111.5. Prices had increased again. Inflation is
Inflation is a persistent rise defined as a persistent rise in the general price level as indicated by these increases
in the general price level. in the price index over time. The inflation rate is the annual rate of change, as a
The inflation rate is the percentage, in the price level.
annual percentage The inflation rate is calculated using the same method used for calculating the
change in the price level. growth rate in real GDP. For example:

CPI2006 2 CPI2005
Inflation rate for 2006 5 3 100 (4.2)
CPI2005

Statistics Canada reported the 2007 CPI at 111.5 and the 2006 CPI at 109.1. The
inflation rate for 2007 was:

111.5 2 109.1
Inflation rate for 2007 5 3 100 5 2.2%
109.1
Employment is the num-
Statistics Canada collects and publishes information on the Canadian labour market.
ber of adults employed
full-time and part-time
It uses a monthly Labour Force Survey of approximately 50,000 Canadian individuals
and self-employed. 15 years of age or over living in the provinces of Canada, excluding full-time members of
the armed forces, those persons living on Indian reserves, and those in institutions such
Unemployment is the
as penal institutions, hospitals, and nursing homes. The survey provides the data used to
number of adults not
working but actively estimate the size of the labour force, employment, and unemployment.
looking for work. Employment is defined as the number of adults (15 years of age and older) employed
full-time and part-time and self-employed. Unemployment covers those not working but
The labour force is those
adults employed plus available for and seeking work. The civilian labour force is those adults who are employed
those not employed but plus those not employed but actively looking for jobs. Based on these concepts, and data
actively looking for work. on the surveyed population, Statistics Canada reports three key labour market indicators,
The participation rate is
namely: the participation rate, the unemployment rate, and the employment rate.
the percent of the popula- The participation rate is the proportion of the surveyed population that is either
tion that is either working working or unemployed. It measures the size of the labour force relative to the surveyed
or unemployed. population. The participation rate changes as people become more optimistic about

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 69

A P P L I C AT I O N B O X 4 .1

The Consumer Price Index

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an indicator page, you can scroll down to a table showing the
of the changes in prices of consumer goods and components of the CPI.
services in Canada. It compares the cost of a fixed The time base or base year of the index is the
basket of goods and services in a particular year year in which the index is given a value of 100.
with the cost of that basket in the year chosen as The cost of the same basket of goods and services
the base year. Since the basket is fixed, the index in the prices in any other year is compared with
reflects changes in prices. its cost in base year prices. The ratio of the two
Statistics Canada uses a fixed basket classi- costs multiplied by 100 gives the CPI in that year.
fied under eight consumer expenditure catego- Recent values of the Canadian CPI on the
ries. The weight or importance of each category is base 2002 5 100 reported by Statistics Canada are:
based on its share of expenditure as determined
by consumer expenditure surveys. By visiting the
Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Statistics Canada Web site, www.statcan.gc.ca, and
selecting Consumer Price Index in the Latest CPI 102.8 104.7 107.0 109.1 111.5
Indicators table on the right side of the home

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Database, Series V41690914.

finding employment, or discouraged by periods without employment. Discouraged

workers want to work but are no longer looking for work because they believe suitable
work is not available. As a result they are excluded from the measurement of the labour
force and reduce the participation rate. Changes in the participation rate change the
size of the labour force even if the population is constant.

Labour force
Participation Rate 5 3 100 (4.3)
Population 15 1 yrs

In Canada in September 2008 Statistics Canada reported the population 15 years

and older was 27.013 million persons and the labour force was 18.326 million persons.
These data give:
18.326
Participation Rate in 2008 5 3 100 5 67.8%
27.013

The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of The unemployment rate
the labour force. However, because the size of the labour force depends on the partici- is the percentage of the
pation rate, the choices people make about looking for work, the unemployment rate total labour force that is
not employed but is
will rise if people become more optimistic about job prospects and begin to look for
actively looking for
work, increasing the participation rate and the labour force. On the other hand, the employment.
unemployment rate will decline if some people become discouraged and give up look-
ing for work, reducing the participation rate and the labour force.
The unemployment rate is calculated as follows:
Labour force 2 Employed
Unemployment rate 5 3 100 (4.4)
Labour force

Statistics Canada reported labour force participation rate of 67.8 percent, a labour force
of 18.326 million persons in September 2008 and total employment of 17.206 million

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70 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

persons. In that month, 1.119 million persons were unemployed and the unemploy-
ment rate was:

18.326 2 17.206
Unemployment rate September 2008 5 3 100 5 6.1%
18.326

Unemployment as measured by the broad unemployment rate has two important

Cyclical unemployment components. Cyclical unemployment is unemployment that would be eliminated by
would be eliminated by a higher level of economic activity without putting increased pressure on wage rates
higher levels of economic and inflation. Structural unemployment reflects institutions and conditions in the
activity. labour market. It is regarded as the “full employment” level of unemployment, and
Structural unemploy- the corresponding unemployment rate is defined as the natural unemployment rate.
ment comes from labour In recent years in Canada, estimates of structural unemployment suggest a natural
market structures and unemployment rate of about 6.0 percent. An unemployment rate persistently below
institutions.
6.0 percent would create inflationary pressure in the labour market and the economy.
The employment rate is the percentage of the population 15 years of age and over
The natural unemploy-
ment rate reflects
that is employed. Employment rates provide a different perspective on labour market
structural unemployment. conditions because they are not affected by changes in the participation rate, which
can change unemployment rates. If some people become discouraged and stop looking
The employment rate is for work the labour force and the unemployment rate decline, but the employment rate
the percent of the popula- is unchanged. The employment rate is calculated as:
tion 15 years of age and
over that is employed. Employment
Employment Rate 5 3 100 (4.5)
Population 15 yrs1

In September 2008 the population 15 years of age and over was 27.013 million and
employment was 17.206 million and the employment rate was:

17.206
Employment Rate in September 2008 5 3 100 5 63.7%
27.013

The employment rate was lower than the participation rate because some members
of the labour force were unemployed.
Table 4.1 gives recent data on the Canadian labour force and labour market condi-
tions using these concepts.

TABLE 4.1 The Canadian Labour Market, September 2008 (Thousands of persons)

1) Non-institutional population 151 yrs. 27,013

2) Labour force 18,326
3) Employment 17,206
4) Unemployment [(2) 2 (3)] 1,120
(Percent)
5) Participation rate [(2)/(1)] 3 100 67.8
6) Employment rate [(3)/(1)] 3 100 63.7
7) Unemployment rate [(4)/(2)] 3 100 6.1

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series V2062809, V2062810, V2062811, V2062814, V2062815, V2062816, V2062817.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 71

Almost every day the media discuss some aspects of economic growth, inflation,
and employment. These issues often play large roles in elections and discussions of eco-
nomic policy. In the chapters that follow, we will study causes of changes in output, Review Questions
income, prices and inflation, and employment and unemployment. As a background to 1 and 2
that work, consider recent Canadian economic performance.

4.2 Canadian Economic Performance

Table 4.2 provides a summary of economic growth, inflation, and unemployment in
Canada from 1980 to 2008, and a comparison with the United States economy. Over
this period, real GDP in Canada grew at a rate of 2.5 to 3 percent per year, with higher
growth in the 1980s than in more recent years. Growth in the United States economy
was stronger than in Canada in the 1990s, but not as strong in the following decade.
Inflation rates declined in both countries over this same time period. The fall in infla-
tion rates in Canada from the 1980s to the 1990s was much larger than that in the
United States, although both countries have experienced similar inflation rates in recent
years. Unemployment rates in Canada were high in the 1980s and 1990s compared with
recent years and compared with unemployment rates in the United States. In broad
terms, we see growth in real GDP over the past 25 years, but not steady growth, with
lower inflation rates and lower unemployment rates, particularly in recent years.
Figures 4.1 to 4.3 provide a more detailed look at real GDP growth, inflation, and
unemployment in Canada from 1980 to 2008. They show the trends and annual
variations in these measures of economic performance that lie behind the longer-
term averages in Table 4.2 . Understanding the causes of these short-term fluctuations
in economic performance, and the economic policy questions they raise, are major
reasons for studying macroeconomics.

TABLE 4.2 Real GDP Growth, Inflation, and Unemployment 1980 to 2008 (Annual Average)

Canada United States

% %
Real GDP growth rate
1980s 3.0 3.0
1990s 2.5 3.0
2000–2008 2.9 2.5
Inflation rate
1980s 6.5 5.6
1990s 2.2 3.0
2000–2008 2.3 2.8
Unemployment rate
1980s 9.4 7.3
1990s 9.5 5.8
2000–2008 7.0 5.0

Sources: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series: V1992067,V41690914 V735319, V2062815; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic
Analysis Series GDPCA, and Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008–09 Edition, Computer
Software Engineers, at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos267.htm (visited January 21, 2009).

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72 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

FIGURE 4.1 Real GDP and Growth of Real GDP in Canada

4.1(a) Real GDP in Canada 1980 to 2008

1,400,000

1,300,000

1,200,000
Millions 2002 $

1,100,000

1,000,000

900,000

800,000

700,000

600,000

500,000
1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007
Year

Total output produced and total real income is measured by real GDP in each year, Figure 4.1(a) shows the
strong upward trend in output over the period 1980 to 2008. However, the economy did suffer recessions in
the early 1980s and the early 1990s, time periods marked by the solid vertical lines. The economy has
grown over time, but it has not grown smoothly.

4.1(b) Annual Rates of Growth of Real GDP in Canada 1980 to 2008

8.0

6.0

4.0

2.0
%

0.0

–2.0

–4.0
1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007
Year

Figure 4.1(b) shows the annual growth rates in real GDP that lie behind the trend we see in Figure 4.1(a).
Growth rates fluctuate from year to year. 1984 and 1999 were years of high growth, in excess of 5 percent.
By contrast, 1982 and 1991 were recession years with negative growth. Real GDP became smaller in those
years than in the preceding years.

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series V1992067.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 73

Figure 4.1(a) shows the substantial growth in real GDP over the 1980–2008 period.
It also shows that growth was not steady. We see two periods, the early 1980s and the
early 1990s in which real GDP actually declined. These were times of recession. By con- A recession is a decline in
trast, after 1994 real GDP grew consistently year by year until 2009, the start of another economic activity, often
recession. defined as two consecutive
quarters of negative
Figure 4.1(b) shows the considerable fluctuations in real GDP annual growth rates
growth in real GDP.
and the negative growth rates that mark recessions. Even the continuous growth after
1994 was not steady. Annual growth rates ranged from about 5.5 percent in 1999 to
1.8 percent in 2001. We study macroeconomics to find explanations for the causes
and effects of these fluctuations in economic activity.
The decade averages of inflation rates in Table 4.2 (page 71) also hide the volatility
of annual inflation rates in Canada. Figure 4.2 shows annual inflation rates in Canada
since 1961. This longer time frame gives us an interesting look at the rise and fall in
Canadian inflation. It also raises questions about the causes and effects of the strong
rise in inflation rates in the 1960s and 1970s, and the sharp drops in inflation rates in
the early 1980s and early 1990s. Our recent experience with low and stable inflation
rates is quite different from past experience. We will examine the role that macroeco-
nomic policy played in these changes in inflation rates.
Fluctuations in growth rates and inflation rates are also accompanied by fluctua-
tions in unemployment rates. Annual unemployment rates plotted in Figure 4.3 have
fluctuated between 6 percent and 12 percent. Although employment in the economy
has grown over time, the annual unemployment rates show that job creation has at
times fallen short of the growth in the labour force, pushing unemployment rates up.
The periods of recession in the early 1980s, the early 1990s, and 2009 caused sharp

FIGURE 4.2 Annual Inflation Rates in Canada 1961 to 2008

14.0

12.0

10.0

8.0
%
6.0

4.0

2.0

0.0
1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009
Year

The inflation rate is the annual percent change in the Consumer Price Index. This figure shows the strong rise
in inflation in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s, the sharp drop in inflation in the 1980s and again in 1990s,
In later chapters we will discuss the importance of monetary policy for this experience with inflation.

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series V41690973.

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74 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

FIGURE 4.3 Annual Unemployment Rates in Canada 1980 to 2008

The unemployment rate is

13
the number of persons
without work but actively 12
looking for work as a percent 11
of the total labour force.
Annual unemployment rates 10
in Canada have fluctuated % 9
over the1980–2008 period
in the range of 6 percent to 8
12 percent. The high 7
unemployment rates in 1983
and 1993 coincide roughly in 6
time with the negative 5
growth rates in real GDP and 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008
recessions we see in Figure
Year
4.1. The subsequent decline
from those highs coincides
with high growth rates in
real GDP.

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series V2062815.

rises in unemployment rates. At other times, strong real GDP growth and job creation
have lowered the unemployment rate. The falling unemployment rates from 1993 to
2000 coincided in time with the continuous growth in real GDP we saw in Figure 4.1.
This gives us an example of the way growth in real GDP and employment are tied to-
gether; a relationship we will explore in more detail in Chapter 5.
Table 4.3 provides an international perspective on unemployment rates. It shows
that measured unemployment rates differ quite widely among countries. Furthermore,
unemployment rates change over time in different ways across countries. Most countries

TABLE 4.3 Unemployment Rates in Selected Countries, 1990 to 2007 (Percentage of Labour Force)

Country 1990 1995 2000 2007

Canada 8.1 9.5 6.8 6.7
United States 5.6 5.6 4.0 5.0
Japan 2.1 3.2 4.7 4.0
India — 2.2 4.3 —
China 2.5 2.9 3.1 4.2
Belgium 7.2 9.3 7.0 7.9
France 9.0 11.6 10.0 9.1
Italy 11.0 11.3 10.5 6.4
Netherlands 7.5 7.1 3.3 3.8
Sweden 1.6 7.7 4.7 5.3

Source: International Labour Office, ILO LABORSTA, http://laborsta.ilo.org.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 75

experienced lower unemployment over the later 1990s and the first part of the current
decade. Japan was an exception. It experienced a persistent recession and rising unem-
ployment rates until the middle of the current decade. High unemployment rates in
some European countries also indicate difficult economic conditions and perhaps dif-
ferent economic policies.
Macroeconomics studies the causes of differences in the performance of the total
economy over time and across countries. We start by looking in more detail at the way
outputs and incomes in the total economy are measured and linked.

4.3 National Accounting Measures of the Economy

The economy is made up of millions of individual households, businesses, and gov-
ernment departments. The individual decisions made by these economic units de-
termine the economy’s total spending, output, and income. The circular flow The circular flow diagram
diagram shows the relationship between spending, output, and income. National shows how real resources
accounts provide a framework for the definitions and measurement of spending, and money payments flow
between households and
output, and incomes.
businesses.
We start with the simplest of economies. There are only households and busi-
nesses; no government and no trade with other countries. Households own the factors
of production: labour, land, capital, and entrepreneurship. Businesses use these factors
of production to produce outputs of goods and services. Businesses pay households for
the factor services they use and recover these costs by selling their output to the
households.
Figure 4.4 shows the circular flow of inputs to production, outputs of goods and
services, costs of the inputs to production, and receipts from sales. The upper half of
the diagram, above the horizontal dotted line, shows the outputs of goods and services
supplied by business to households in return for household expenditures on those
goods and services. The lower half of the diagram shows the factor services of labour,
land capital, and entrepreneurship supplied by households to business in exchange for
the factor incomes: wages, rent, interest, and profit.
The figure also suggests an alternative way to look at activity in the aggregate econ-
omy. The inner loop in the diagram shows the flows of real resources between house-
holds and businesses. Households provide factor services to business and get goods and
services in return. In modern economies this exchange of factor services for goods and
services is facilitated by the use of money as a means of payment. The outer loop in the
diagram illustrates the flows of money payments made by business to buy factor services,
and by households to buy goods and services produced by business. Business pays
wages, rent, interest, and profits to households and finances those costs with their re-
ceipts from sales to households. To keep the example simple, we assume that house-
holds spend all the income they receive from the business sector on goods and services
produced by the business sector.
Figure 4.4 suggests four ways to measure economic activity in an economy, namely:
a. the output of goods and services at market prices,
b. the total expenditure on goods and services at market prices,
c. the inputs to the production of goods and services costed at market prices,
d. the incomes received by households for providing factor inputs to production.
The four ovals in the diagram show these four alternative but equal measurements.

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76 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

FIGURE 4.4 The Circular Flow between Households and Businesses

Expenditure on
goods &
Money services Money
payments $$$ receipts $$$

Output of goods
& services
Goods & Goods &
services services

Households Businesses

Factor
Factor
services
services
Labour, land, capital
& entrepreneurship
inputs to business

Wages, rent, Costs of

interest & Factor incomes paid production $$$
profit $$$ by businesses to
households

As a result, we get the same measure of total economic activity whether we use the
market value of output, total spending on that output, inputs to production, or the fac-
tor incomes received by households in return for those inputs.
This circular flow model is kept very simple to illustrate the basic principle:

Market value of output ; total expenditure ; market value of factor services

; Household income

But what happens if households don’t spend all their income, as we have assumed?
What happens if businesses cannot sell all their output? What happens if businesses
sell some of their output to other businesses and not to households? The next section
answers these questions. When we have found the answers to our questions, our con-
clusion will be unchanged: The four ways to measure total activity in the economy
give, by definition, the same answer.
While the principle illustrated by the circular flow is sound, the economy in Figure
4.4 is too simple. It does not allow households to save or businesses to invest. It leaves
out government expenditures and taxes, and transactions between households and

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 77

businesses with the rest of the world. Including those aspects of economic activity will
make our model more complex, and we will need a comprehensive system of national
income accounts to describe and measure it.

MEASURING GDP
Nominal GDP is measured using market prices and a specific time period. It is not
possible to add up the final physical outputs of many different businesses and arrive
at a meaningful result. Instead we let current market prices determine the money values
of these different outputs. Then the total market value can be found by adding up the
money values. Nominal GDP is the market value at current prices of all final goods
and services.
Furthermore, the outputs of goods and services occur over time, not all at once.
They flow over time and must be measured relative to time. GDP measured over three-
month and one-year time periods is reported as quarterly GDP and annual GDP. Annual
nominal GDP for any year is the value of the final goods produced in that year at the
prices of that year.
In Canada, Statistics Canada uses the Canadian System of National Accounts
(CSNA) to measure GDP. This framework is based on the circular flow concept we have
discussed, but is applied to the complexity of the actual economy.
Although we defined and discussed real GDP, measured at prices of a base year, earlier
in this chapter, national accounting measures nominal GDP at current prices. The Nominal GDP measures
CSNA produces three measurements of nominal GDP: the output of final goods
and services, the money
1. Output-based GDP is the sum of value added (output less the cost of goods and incomes generated by the
services purchased from other businesses) by all industries in Canada. production of that output,
and expenditure on the
2. Income-based GDP records the earnings generated by the production of goods
sale of that output in a
and services, and specific time period.
3. Expenditure-based GDP is equal to expenditure on final goods and services
produced.
These three alternative measures of GDP provide importantly different perspec-
tives on the level of national economic activity. The output and income measures
describe the supply side of the economy in terms of goods and services produced, and
costs of production. The expenditure measure of GDP describes the demand side of the
economy.

OUTPUT-BASED GDP
To measure output in the economy, and the contribution of particular businesses or
industries to that output, we use the value-added approach to GDP. Value added mea- Value added is the differ-
sures the net output of each industry. To find the value added (net output) of a particu- ence between the market
lar business or industry, the costs of the goods and services purchased from other value of the output of the
business and the cost of
businesses and industries are deducted from the value of the final product. National, or
inputs purchased from
all-industry GDP, is then the sum of GDP by industry. other businesses.
This method recognizes that businesses buy inputs to production from other busi-
nesses as well as from households. Automakers like General Motors and Honda buy
parts and components like tires and windshields from other businesses, and include the
costs of those inputs in the prices of the finished cars they sell. They also buy services
like accounting, advertising, and transportation from service producers. Similarly, pizza
makers buy cheese and pepperoni from cheese factories and meat processors. If we were

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78 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

to add up the outputs of auto parts manufacturers, cheese makers, meat processors,
pizza makers, General Motors, and Honda in our measurement of nominal GDP, we
would overstate GDP by double counting. The cheese would be counted once at the
cheese factory and again in the pizza. The same applies to the tires and windshields of
the new cars. To avoid double counting, we could use value added, the increase in the
value of goods and services as measured by the difference between market value of out-
Intermediate inputs are put and the cost of intermediate inputs bought from other businesses. Or we could
services, materials, and count only the outputs sold to final users. Notice that total GDP by our definition mea-
components purchased sures the output of final goods and services.
from other businesses and
Consider a simple example. A coffee shop sells 100 cups of coffee an hour at a
used in the production of
final goods.
price, before tax, of $1.50. To make 100 cups of coffee the shop uses 2 kilos of ground
coffee costing $10.00 per kilo, 25 litres of pure spring water costing $0.40 a litre,
Final goods and services and electricity and dairy products costing, in total $20. The coffee shop’s sales per
are purchased by the
hour are $150 using inputs costing $50. Its value added is $150 2 $50 5 $100. As we
ultimate user.
will see shortly, this value added, or $100, covers the labour costs, rent, interest
expenses, and management costs of the business, for producing 100 cups of coffee
an hour.
Table 4.4 shows the industrial structure of output in Canada in July 2008, based
on the percentage shares of selected industries in Canadian GDP. Industry outputs
are measured by value added. The data illustrate the importance of service-producing
industries to economic activity in Canada. This industrial structure is typical of today’s
high-income economies and raises many interesting questions about the relationship
between economic structure, performance, and growth. However, when our main in-
Review Questions terest is in the total level of economic activity rather than its industrial structure, the
3 and 4 expenditure-based and income-based measures of GDP are used.

TABLE 4.4 Outputs of Selected Industries in GDP: Canada, July 2008 (Percentage shares)

All industries 100.0

Goods-producing industries 29.5

Service-producing industries 70.5

Agriculture, forestry, fishing, etc. 2.1

Mining, oil, and gas extraction 4.6
Construction 6.0
Manufacturing 14.4
Wholesale and retail trade 11.8
Transportation 4.6
Finance, insurance, and real estate 19.3
Professional and educational service 9.7
Health and social assistance 6.4
Public administration 5.6
All other 15.5

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Table 379-0027 and author’s calculations.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 79

THE EXPENDITURE-BASED GDP

The expenditure-based measurement of nominal GDP adds up the market value of all
the final goods and services produced and bought in a given time period, say one year.
The national accounts classify this final expenditure into five main categories: consump-
tion, investment, government expenditure, exports, and imports. This classification
system is useful for our study of macroeconomic activity for two reasons. First, the clas-
sification scheme covers final expenditure in the economy completely; nothing is omitted.
Second, the categories represent expenditure decisions made for different reasons in
different parts of the economy. Understanding expenditure decisions is key to the work
that lies ahead. Defining the expenditure categories is the first step.
Consumption expenditure is expenditure by the household sector on currently Consumption expendi-
produced final goods and services in one year. It includes expenditures on food, clothing, ture (C) is spending by
housing, home appliances, transportation, entertainment, personal services, financial households on currently
produced final goods and
services, and so forth. The total of these expenditures is aggregate consumption. We will
services.
use C to indicate these household expenditures.
Investment is expenditure by the business sector on currently produced final goods Investment (I) is expen-
and services to be used in the future production of goods and services. Investment adds to diture by business on
the buildings, machinery, and inventories that business uses for the production of goods and currently produced final
goods and services.
services. This is the country’s capital stock. It was included in our discussion of the factors
of production and factor incomes. By national accounts conventions, investment also
includes expenditure on newly constructed residential housing, another component of
the nation’s capital stock, one that produces housing services.
The investment defined here is gross investment. It does not take account of the de-
cline or depreciation of the capital stock through wear and tear and obsolescence. Net
investment is gross investment minus depreciation. Net investment measures the change
in capital stock from one year to the next. Notice that net investment will be smaller
than gross investment and could even be negative if the current level of investment
expenditure is not enough to cover the depreciation of the capital stock. The key con-
cept for our work is gross investment expenditure by business on currently produced
final goods and services. We will use I to indicate this expenditure.
Government expenditure is the purchase of currently produced final goods and Government expenditure
services by the government sector of the economy. It includes the wages and salaries of (G) is government spend-
government employees and the military, and thus the government-provided services ing on currently produced
final goods and services.
like health care, education, the courts, foreign embassies, and national defence.
Governments also spend on office equipment, buildings, roads, and military equip-
ment. This public sector capital stock is also used to provide government services to the
economy. We use G to indicate government expenditure on final goods and services.
Governments also make payments to households and business that are not ex-
penditure directly on current final output. These include payments made under
government programs like Old Age Security, Employment Insurance Benefits, and
Social Assistance, as well as the interest payments the government makes to holders
of government bonds. These are transfer payments that do not require the provision
of any goods or services in return. They are not included in GDP because there is no
corresponding output. We will see in later chapters that government taxes and
Exports (X) are purchases
transfer payments redistribute existing income and spending power away from of our domestic goods
those taxed and towards those receiving transfer payments. and services by residents
Exports and Imports measure the expenditures arising from international trade in of other countries.
goods and services. Our exports are the result of expenditures by residents of other Imports (Z) are our
countries on the final goods and services produced in this country. These expenditures purchases of goods and
provide incomes to domestic factors of production. Our imports are our expenditures services produced by
on goods and services produced in other countries. They do not give rise to incomes for other countries.

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80 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

domestic factors of production. However, some part of household consumption expen-

ditures, business investment expenditures, and government expenditures are for goods
and services produced in other countries. Furthermore, many of our exports of goods
and services have imports included in them; for example, the new cars we assemble in
Ontario and sell in the United States have components made in other countries. We
could subtract the import component separately from the other expenditure categories
and measure only expenditure on domestically produced final goods and services, but
it is easier to continue to measure that final expenditure in total and then subtract
imports from that total.
The effect of international trade on domestic incomes is the result of the difference
Net exports (NX) is the between exports and imports. Net exports, exports minus imports, measures this
difference between effect. We will use X to represent exports, Z to represent imports, and NX (5 X 2 Z) to
exports and imports. represent net exports.
Gross domestic product measured by the expenditure approach is the sum of ex-
penditures by households, businesses, governments, and residents of other countries
on domestically produced final goods and services. Using the expenditure categories
and notation we have discussed gives:

GDP 5 consumption 1 investment 1 government expenditure 1 exports 2 imports,

or
Review Questions
5 and 6 GDP 5 C 1 I 1 G 1 X 2 Z (4.6)

This approach to the measurement of GDP corresponds to the output and expen-
diture in the upper part of Figure 4.4 (page 76). The left-hand columns of Table 4.5
show Canadian GDP in 2008 measured by the expenditure approach.

TABLE 4.5 Canadian National Accounts, 2008 ($ billion at current prices)

Expenditure Measures Income Measures

At market price: Income source:
C by households 893.0 Employment income 827.0
G by government 365.6 Profit and business income 323.1
I by industry 310.6 Investment income 79.7
X exports 559.8 Net domestic income 1229.8
Z imports 2534.1
Statistical discrepancy 7.6 Capital consumption 206.1
GDP at basic prices 1435.9
Net indirect taxes 166.6

GDP at Market Prices 1602.5 GDP at Market Prices 1602.5

Net foreign property income 214.7 Net foreign property income 214.7

GNP 1587.8 GNI 1587.8

Source: Based on Statistics Canada, CANSIM Tables 380-0001 and 380-0002, and author’s calculations.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 81

THE INCOME-BASED GDP

The income-based measurement of nominal GDP follows from the lower part of the
circular flow diagram in Figure 4.4. By the national accounts definition, expenditures
are equal to incomes. National accounts classify incomes roughly in terms of the factors
of production used to produce the goods and services in the economy in a year or a
quarter of a year. Other costs and taxes are then added to include all the things that
enter into the final market prices of goods and services. We begin our measurement of the
income-based GDP by defining each of these income sources and components of price.
Employment income is the income earned by labour from its contribution to the Employment income (W)
production of goods and services. It includes the wages and salaries paid by businesses to is the sum of all wages,
employees. It also includes supplementary income, the costs of benefits like pensions, salaries, and benefits paid
to labour.
employment insurance premiums, supplemental health care, and dental insurance
plans. This is the total cost of the labour services supplied by households to businesses.
It reflects the money wage rates and salaries multiplied by total employment. We will use
the W to represent total employment income.
Profit and business income is the sum of the profits of corporations before tax, Profit and business
and the incomes and rents earned by unincorporated business, which include many income is the sum of
small owner-operated businesses, professional practices, and farm operations. It mea- corporate profit and
small business income.
sures the costs of management and entrepreneurship, and the cost of owners’ labour
and capital used in the production of goods and services. Interest and investment Interest and investment
income includes interest income earned on bank deposits, holdings of corporate bonds, income is income earned
and other incomes from financial assets, excluding government bonds. We can think from financial assets.
of it as income coming from the use of capital in the production process. We will
sum up profit, business income, and investment income and use BI, for business and Business and investment
investment income, to represent this type of income. income (BI) is the sum of
Adding together the incomes earned by labour, by businesses, and by holders of profit, interest, investment,
and business income.
investment assets gives the total of incomes earned by the factor inputs to the
production of goods and services in the domestic economy. This total is called
Net Domestic Income (NDI) at factor cost. Net Domestic Income
(NDI) is the total income
Net Domestic Income 5 employment income 1 profit and business income earned by factors of
1 interest and investment income production.

NDI 5 W 1 BI (4.7)

Canadian Net Domestic Income for the year 2008 is reported in the right-hand side
of Table 4.5. It is the sum of the three factor incomes reported in the lines above Net
Domestic Income.
Factor incomes are the largest part of the income flow resulting from the production
of goods and services, but they do not cover all the components of the market prices by
which expenditures are measured. Two things are missing. The first is an allowance for
the depreciation of the capital stock used for production. The second is the effect
of taxes and government subsidies. We include both of these to measure GDP by the
income approach.
We can think of depreciation as using up the capital stock. Even with expenditures
on repair and maintenance, the reliability and productive capacity of the capital stock
declines over time. The ability of business to produce goods and services declines with
it. A car or a bicycle depreciates and loses its reliability in the same way. Business recog-
nizes “consumption” of the capital stock as a cost of production over and above the
factor cost. As with factor costs, businesses cover depreciation and the replacement
costs of capital with part of the revenue received from sales of goods and services.

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82 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

Capital Consumption National accounts take depreciation into account by including a Capital Consumption
Allowance (CCA) Allowance (CCA) in the measurement of the income.
measures depreciation of Adding the Capital Consumption Allowance to Net Domestic Income gives GDP at
the capital stock.
basic price. That is the price before indirect tax or subsidy.
GDP at basic price 5 Net
Domestic Income GDP at basic price 5 NDI 1 CCA (4.8)
1 Capital Consumption
Allowance. Net indirect taxes (TIN ) are the sales and excise taxes imposed by government on
Net indirect taxes (TIN)
products and services, or on expenditure more generally, minus the subsidies govern-
are sales and excise taxes ments give to some production. The GST, provincial retail sales taxes, taxes on liquor
minus subsidies. and tobacco products, and gasoline taxes are all indirect taxes. You pay if you buy.
Sellers of these products collect the tax revenue for the government and remit it to the
government. As a result, the expenditures on goods and services at market price exceed
production cost and generate a flow of income to the government in addition to the
flow of income going to business and households.
Subsidies are payments made by governments to producers to cover some of the
costs of production. A producer who receives such a payment does not have to recover
GDP at market price
= Net Domestic Income all factor and depreciation costs from the market price of the product. As a result, the
1 Capital Consumption market price is less than the full cost. Subsidies are subtracted from indirect taxes to
Allowance 1 Net Indirect give the net effect. GDP at basic price plus net indirect tax equals GDP at market price,
Tax. measured by the income approach.

GDP at market price 5 NDI 1 CCA 1 TIN (4.9)

The right-hand side of Table 4.5 (page 80) shows GDP at market prices measured by
Review Question this income approach, which is illustrated by the lower loops in Figure 4.4 (page 76).
7 Although the economy we have discussed in terms of national accounts is more
complex than the simple economy of the circular flow, the basic principle remains.
The final output of the economy is, by definition, equal to the sum of expenditures
on final goods and services at market price and the flows of income to households,
business, and government. GDP is the same by either approach if we measure
correctly.
Figure 4.5 shows a more extensive circular flow diagram for the economy. It includes
the basic national accounting measures we have discussed, including the government
sector and international trade, exports and imports, and uses the notation of the na-
tional accounts variables. We will model this economy in Chapters 6 and 7.
As you examine Figure 4.5, you will see that it includes three concepts we have not
yet discussed. In the upper half of the diagram, which shows expenditure flows, the
household sector may save some of its income, as indicated by S in the circle to the left.
The government sector may also save or borrow. This depends on whether the differ-
ence between tax revenues T and expenditures G, as indicated by the circle (T – G), is
in a surplus, (T 2 G) . 0, or in a deficit, (T 2 G) , 0. Adding these concepts does not
change the basic principle that GDP as measured by the expenditure approach is equal
to C 1 I 1 G 1 X 2 Z. We will examine them carefully as we study expenditure deci-
sions in Chapter 6 and government budgets in Chapter 7.
The third new concept included in Figure 4.5 is the net direct tax that governments
impose on incomes, T DN. You will see this in the lower part of the diagram, which il-
lustrates the income approach to measuring GDP. Direct taxes based on household and
business incomes are sources of revenue to the government, in addition to the net indi-
rect taxes on expenditures on goods and services we discussed earlier. Net direct taxes
do not interfere with our measurement of GDP by the income approach, but we will see
that they are important to expenditure decisions by households. In the lower part of

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 83

FIGURE 4.5 The Circular Flow with Government and International Trade

X Z
I C+I+G+X

C + I + G + X– Z
C T–G
S G

Households Government Business

TDN TIN CCA

W + BI – TDN

W + BI

This figure extends the circular flow diagram by including the government and international sectors.
Expenditures include government expenditure (G) and net exports (X 2 Z). Businesses make factor
payments to households. Government imposes direct tax (TDN) on those incomes and collects net indirect
tax on expenditures. GDP at market price, PY, is equal to P 3 (C 1 I 1 G 1 NX) and W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN.

the diagram, Net Domestic Income (W + BI) plus capital consumption (CCA) and net
indirect tax (TIN ) gives GDP 5 W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN.
The economy in Figure 4.5 is clearly more complex and realistic than the simple
two-sector model we started with. Macroeconomic theory and models capture the
linkages among the elements in the diagram. They explain how this economic
system works to determine GDP, business cycle fluctuations in GDP, inflation, and
employment.

4.4 Nominal and Real GDP and the GDP Deflator

We have discussed real GDP briefly in the beginning of this chapter, and then nominal
GDP in some detail. Now we need to look carefully at both concepts and the relation-
ship between them, which is the GDP deflator.

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84 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

Nominal GDP measures output and incomes based on current market prices for goods
and services and factors of production. As a result, changes in nominal GDP from one
period to the next might be the result of changes in prices of final outputs and factor
inputs, or the result of changes in the quantities of final outputs and factor inputs, or
some combination of the two.
Since it is physical quantities of goods and services that yield satisfaction or utility,
it can be misleading to judge the economy’s performance by looking at nominal GDP.
For that purpose we need real GDP, as we discussed earlier in this chapter. Real GDP, or
GDP in constant prices, measures the value of goods and services produced in any given
year using the prices of a base year. In this way, real GDP adjusts changes in GDP for
changes in prices by measuring GDP in different years in constant prices.
To illustrate this important point, Table 4.6 shows a simple economy. In this econ-
omy nominal GDP rises from $29,000 to $87,000 between 1990 and 2008, a 200 percent
increase measured in current prices. If we take 1990 as the base year, we can measure
real GDP in 2008 by valuing output quantities in 2008 using 1990 prices. This gives real
GDP in 2008 of $45,500 in prices of the base year. The rise of about 57 percent in real
GDP gives a truer picture of the extra quantity of goods available in the economy in
2008 compared with 1980. It eliminates the change in GDP that was the result of the
increase in prices by 91.2 percent between 1990 and 2008.

THE GDP DEFLATOR

The Canadian economy is obviously more complex than this economy. We have seen
that GDP includes expenditures by households, governments, businesses, and residents
of other countries who supply us with imports and buy our exports. To convert nominal

TABLE 4.6 Nominal and Real GDP

1990 2008 Change (%)

Quantity blue jeans (pairs) 1000 1500
hamburgers 2000 4000

Price in $ blue jeans 25 50

hamburgers 2 3

Value in current $ blue jeans 25,000 75,000

hamburgers 4,000 12,000

Nominal GDP 29,000 87,000 200

Value in 1990 $ blue jeans 25,000 37,500

hamburgers 4,000 8,000

Real GDP 29,000 45,500 56.9

GDP deflator 100.0 191.2 91.2

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 85

GDP to real GDP we need to use an index that includes what is happening to the prices
of all these different goods and services. This index is called the GDP deflator. The GDP deflator is an
If we have data for both nominal and real GDP, we can calculate the GDP deflator index of current prices
as the ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP expressed as an index with a value of 100 in relative to base year prices.
the base year.

Nominal GDP
GDP deflator 5 3 100 (4.10)
Real GDP

The GDP deflator differs from the consumer price index (CPI) used earlier to mea-
sure inflation. First, the CPI is based on a “representative basket” of goods and services
that consumers buy, while the GDP deflator covers all the goods and services included
in national accounts. Second, the CPI is constructed on the base of a fixed quantity that
changes in market value as prices change. The GDP deflator, by contrast, is built on the
base year prices, and measures the value of a changing flow of goods and services in
those base year prices. In other words the current GDP deflator “deflates” the dollar
value of current 2008 output to what it would be in 2002 prices, while the CPI measures
the increase in the cost of the “basket” of consumer goods and services.
But why does the GDP deflator change over time? The data on nominal and real
GDP do not provide an explanation. From our earlier discussion of the national
income accounting framework, we can see that costs of production and net indirect taxes
determine the general level of market prices measured by the GDP deflator. Nominal
GDP measured by the income approach is reported in Table 4.5 (page 80). It is the
sum of incomes paid to factor inputs to production, plus depreciation allowances and
net indirect taxes. These components of nominal GDP are the costs of production,
gross profits, and taxes that are built into the market prices of the goods and services.
We can write:

Nominal GDP ; employment income 1 profit, business, and investment income

1 capital consumption allowance 1 net indirect taxes

or

Nominal GDP ; W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN (4.11)

Alternatively, using the expenditure approach as illustrated in Table 4.5, using Y to

denote real GDP and P for the weight average price level we have:

Nominal GDP ; P 3 Y ; P 3 1C 1 I 1 G 1 X 2 Z2 (4.12)

Our national accounting framework and procedures tell us that nominal GDP will
be the same whether measured by the income approach or the expenditure approach.
This means we can define the general price level as:

W BI 1 CCA TIN
P5 1 1 (4.13)
Y Y Y

This shows us that the general price level in the economy is equal to the sum of:
i) labour cost per unit of output, W/Y,
ii) gross business income per unit of output, (BI 1 CCA)/Y, and
iii) net indirect tax per unit of output TIN/Y.

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86 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

Changes in any one of these three components of the price level must change both
price and nominal GDP, whether we measure nominal GDP by the income or the ex-
penditure approach. The GDP deflator is an index of this price level in any particular
year relative to a chosen base year.
This same framework gives real income, the purchasing power of money income in
terms of final goods and services.

W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN
Real income 5 Y 5 (4.14)
P

We know that Y 5 (C 1 I 1 G 1 X 2 Z) is the real output of goods and services

in the economy. Now we can see as well that real output measured by the expendi-
ture approach is equal to real income as measured by the income approach. These
relationships provide the basis for a simple economic model of the economy in the
next section. But first, look at the importance of the distinction between real and
nominal GDP.
Table 4.7 gives Canadian data over the period 1987 to 2008. Nominal GDP rose
from $513 billion in 1987 to $1602.5 billion in 2008. Without knowing what happened
to prices of goods and services in general, we cannot judge what happened to the quan-
tity of output over that period. To answer this question we use the GDP deflator to con-
vert nominal GDP to real GDP in the prices of the base year 2002 as follows:

Nominal GDP
Review Questions Real GDP 5 3 100 (4.15)
8 and 9 GDP deflator

For example, in 2008, nominal GDP was $1602.5 billion and the GDP deflator
(2002 5 100) was 120.9. Real GDP measured in constant 2002 dollars was then:

$1,602.5
Real GDP2008 5 3 100 5 1325.5 in 2002 dollars
120.9

When converted to constant dollars, the change in real GDP is much smaller
than the change in nominal GDP. Over the 1987–2008 period, real GDP increased by
88.8 percent compared to a 212 percent increase in nominal GDP. On average, prices
in 2008 were 65 percent higher than in 1987. Clearly, it is important to distinguish
between nominal and real GDP.

TABLE 4.7 Canadian Nominal and Real GDP, 1987 to 2008

1987 1994 2001 2008

Nominal GDP (billion current $) 513 771 1,108 1,602.5
GDP deflator (2002 5 100) 73.1 88.2 98.9 120.9
Real GDP (billion 2002 $) 702 944 1120 1325.5

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series V1 and V1992067.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 87

4.5 Per Capita Real GDP

Real GDP is a simple measure of the total real income and output of an economy. The
percentage change in real GDP we saw in Figure 4.1 (page 72) shows how fast the econ-
omy is growing. But we are also interested in what is happening to the standard of living
in the economy and how it changes over time. For a given real GDP, the larger the
population, the smaller is the quantity of goods and services per person. To get a
simple measure of the standard of living enjoyed by a person in the economy it is better
to look at per capita real GDP, which adjusts for population. Whether or not growth in Per capita real GDP is real
total GDP improves standards of living depends also on what is happening to the GDP per person.
size of the population. To find per capita real GDP for a country, which is real GDP per
person, we simply divide real GDP by population.

Real GDP
Per capita real GDP 5 (4.16)
Population

Figure 4.6 shows the growth in per capita real GDP in Canada over the 1980–2008
period. Two important aspects of the economy’s behaviour are clear in the graph. First, the
standard of living as measured by per capita real GDP has increased from 1980 to 2008 by
about 50 percent. Second, this increase has not been smooth and steady. In the early 1980s
and early 1990s—periods of recession and slow growth in real GDP—per capita real GDP
declined. These recessions reduced the standard of living of the average Canadian. In more
recent times, since about 1995, the growth in per capita real GDP has been more stable if Review Question
not always positive and consistent, until the onset of recession in 2008. 10
We saw earlier in the chapter that growth in total GDP, unemployment rates, and
inflation rates have also been more stable recently than in earlier years. Recessions
and fluctuations in economic growth cause changes in standards of living. It is the
work of macroeconomics to discover the causes of fluctuations in economic perfor-
mance and to ask how government policy might reduce those fluctuations to protect
standards of living.

LIMITATIONS OF GDP
Because we use GDP to measure the output and income of an economy, the coverage
should be as comprehensive as possible. We should also recognize that the composition
of GDP and the distribution of income are important to a country’s standard of living.
In practice, we encounter several problems when including all production in GDP.
First, some output production causes noise, pollution, and congestion, which do not
contribute to economic welfare. Current national and international concern about
greenhouse gases and global warming is a clear and obvious example of the issues
involved. We should adjust GDP for these costs to evaluate standards of living more
accurately. This is sensible but difficult to do. Recent policy changes by governments to
impose carbon taxes on fuels and fuel efficiency targets for automobiles aim to reduce
some greenhouse gases. But most such nuisance goods are not traded through markets,
so it is hard to quantify their output or decide how to value their costs to society.
Similarly, many valuable goods and services are excluded from GDP because they
are not marketed and therefore are hard to measure. These include the home cleaning,
maintenance, and improvements households carry out for themselves, and any unre-
ported jobs and incomes in the economy. Deducting nuisance outputs and adding the

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88 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

FIGURE 4.6 Per Capita Real GDP in Canada 1980 to 2008

42,000

40,000

38,000

36,000

34,000
2002$

32,000

30,000

28,000

26,000

24,000

22,000
1980Q2 1982Q4 1985Q2 1987Q4 1990Q2 1992Q4 1995Q2 1997Q4 2000Q2 2002Q4 2005Q2 2007Q4
Year and Quarter

Over the 1980–2007 period per capita real GDP has grown strongly, raising the standard of living of the average
Canadian. This growth has not been steady or consistent. In some years, particularly in the early 1980s and
1990s, per capita real GDP declined, and standards of living were reduced by recessions and high unemployment.
After a brief pause at the start of the current decade, growth in per captia real GDP continued until 2008 when
the slow down resulted in a drop in per capita real GDP.

Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM Series V1 and V1992067.

value of unreported and non-marketed incomes would make GDP a more accurate
measure of the economy’s production of goods and services.
Furthermore, high GDP and even high per capita GDP are not necessarily good
measures of economic well-being. The composition of that output also affects stan-
dards of living. Health care services are likely to have different effects than military
expenditures. The United Nations prepares an annual Human Development Index
(HDI) to provide a more comprehensive measure of a country’s achievements. The
HDI provides a summary measure based on life expectancy, adult literacy, and real
GDP per capita.
Table 4.8 shows HDIs for the top twelve countries in 2005, according to the Human
Development Report, 2007/2008. The last column in the table is of particular interest. It
shows that some countries enjoy a higher standard of living relative to others even
though their per capita GDP is lower. The inclusion of life expectancy and literacy as
indicators of development moves Iceland, the Scandinavian countries, Australia, and
Canada up in the development rankings. By contrast, the United States, despite having
the highest per capita GDP, ranks twelfth as a result of lower life expectancy and educa-
tion indexes. Per capita real GDP is not the only indicator of standard of living.
Do these limitations of GDP matter for our study of macroeconomics? Probably
not. We will be examining changes in real GDP from year to year, for the most part. As

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 89

TABLE 4.8 Top Twelve Countries Based on the 2005 Human Development Index

Life Expectancy Education GDP HDI HDI Rank

Country Index Index Index Index Minus GDP1
1. Iceland 0.94 0.98 0.99 0.968 4
2. Norway 0.91 0.99 1.00 0.968 1
3. Australia 0.93 0.99 0.96 0.962 13
4. Canada 0.92 0.99 0.97 0.961 6
5. Ireland 0.89 0.99 0.99 0.959 21
6. Sweden 0.93 0.98 0.97 0.956 7
7. Switzerland 0.94 0.95 0.98 0.955 21
8. Japan 0.95 0.95 0.96 0.953 9
9. Netherlands 0.90 0.99 0.97 0.953 3
10. France 0.92 0.98 0.95 0.952 8
11. Finland 0.90 0.99 0.96 0.952 3
12. United States 0.88 0.97 1.00 0.951 210

1
A positive value indicates a country HDI rank higher than its per capita GDP rank.

Source: Human Development Report 2007–2008, Table 1, p. 229. New York: United Nations Development
Programme, /hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/.

long as the importance of nuisance and non-marketed outputs, life expectancy, and
literacy do not change dramatically in that time frame, changes in measured real GDP
will provide good measures of changes in economic activity and performance. Changes Review Question
in per capita real GDP will also provide measures of changes in standards of living. 11

In this chapter we have looked at indicators of macroeconomic activity and perfor-

mance, and the measurement of macroeconomic activity using the national accounts.
We have not examined the conditions that determine the level of economic activity
and fluctuations in that level. An economic model is required for that work. In the
next chapter we start to build a simple macroeconomic model.

S U M M A RY

• Macroeconomics studies the whole national econ- ment rates are indicators of macroeconomic activ-
omy as a system. It examines expenditure decisions ity and performance.
by households, businesses, and governments, and
• Fluctuations in the growth rate of real GDP, in
the total flows of goods and services produced and
inflation rates, and in unemployment rates are
incomes earned.
important aspects of recent economic perfor-
• Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), prices and mance in Canada.
inflation rates, and employment and unemploy-

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90 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

• The expenditures by households, production of • Real GDP measures the output of final goods and
goods and services by businesses, and the incomes services produced, and incomes earned at constant
that result are illustrated by the circular flow of prices.
real resources and money payments.
• The GDP deflator is a measure of the price level
• The national accounts provide a framework for for all final goods and services in the economy.
the measurement of the output of the economy
• Real GDP and per capita real GDP are crude mea-
and the incomes earned in the economy.
sures of national and individual welfare. They ignore
• Nominal GDP measures the output of final goods non-market activities, the composition of output,
and services at market prices in the economy, and the and the distribution of income among industries
money incomes earned by the factors of production. and households.

KEY TE RM S

Real GDP 67 Intermediate inputs 78

Economic growth 67 Final goods and services 78
Rate of growth 67 Consumption expenditure (C) 79
Price level 68 Investment (I) 79
Price index 68 Government expenditure (G) 79
Consumer Price Index (CPI) 68 Exports (X) 79
Inflation 68 Imports (Z) 79
Inflation rate 68 Net exports (NX) 80
Employment 68 Employment income (W) 81
Unemployment 68 Profit and business income 81
Labour force 68 Interest and investment income 81
Participation rate 68 Business and investment income
Unemployment rate 69 (BI) 81
Cyclical unemployment 70 Net Domestic Income 81
Structural unemployment 70 Capital consumption allowance
Natural unemployment 70 (CCA) 82
Employment rate 70 GDP at basic price 82
Recession 73 Net indirect taxes (TIN) 82
Circular flow diagram 75 GDP at market price 82
Nominal GDP 77 GDP deflator 85
Value added 77 Per capita real GDP 87

K E Y E Q U AT I O N S A N D R E L AT I O N S

Equations
Real GDPyear 2 2 Real GDPyear 1
Rate of growth of real GDP 5 3 100 (4.1) p. 67
Real GDPyear 1

CPI2008 2 CPI2007
Inflation rate for 2008 5 3 100 (4.2) p. 68
CPI2007

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 91

Labour force
Participation Rate 5 3 100 (4.3)
Population 151 yrs p. 69

Labour force 2 Employed

Unemployment rate 5 3 100 (4.4) p. 69
Labour force

Employment
Employment Rate 5 3 100 (4.5) p. 70
Population 15 yrs1

Gross Domestic Product: GDP 5 C 1 I 1 G 1 NX (4.6) p. 80

Net Domestic Income: NDI = W 1 BI (4.7) p. 81

GDP at basic price = NDI 1 CCA (4.8) p. 82

GDP at market price 5 NDI 1 CCA 1 TIN (4.9) p. 82

Nominal GDP
GDP deflator 5 3 100 (4.10) p. 85
Real GDP

Nominal GDP 5 W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN (4.11) p. 85

Nominal GDP ≡ P 3 Y ≡ P1C 1 I 1 G 1 NX2 (4.12) p. 85

W BI 1 CCA TIN
Price level: P 5 1 1 (4.13) p. 85
Y Y Y

W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN
Real income: Y 5 (4.14) p. 86
P

Nominal GDP
Real GDP 5 3 100 (4.15) p. 86
GDP deflator

Real GDP
Per capital real GDP 5 (4.16) p. 87
Population

Relations
National accounts: Measures of current national output and income

National accounts: Total expenditure ≡ market value of output ≡ total income

National accounts: Current income not spent → current output not sold

Change in nominal GDP : Δ nominal GDP ≈ Δ real GDP 1 ΔP

Change in real GDP : Δ real GDP 5 Δ quantity of final goods and services produced

Change in P : ΔP 5 Δ general price level (weighted average for all final goods and services)

Change in standard of living: Δ real GDP per capita → Δ standard of living

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92 PART 2 Introduction to Macroeconomics

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Review Questions and answers are included in Connect at www.mcgrawhillconnect.ca.

1. You have the following annual data for an economy:

Costs (Millions of Current $) of:

Real Consumer Labour Brewery Barley and Natural

GDP Price Index Force Employment Retail Sales Hops Gas Bottles
Year (2002 $) (2002 5 100) (000) (000) 1000 350 125 150
2006 1282 109.1 17,593 16,537
2007 1307 111.9 17,857 16,696 4. The economy has two main types of industry. One
2008 1288 138.9 18,125 16,856 produces services and the other produces goods.
The services industries produce services for house-
holds and businesses with a total market value of
a. What was the rate of growth of real GDP
$10,000. The goods industries produce goods for
from 2006 to 2007, and 2007 to 2008?
the use of both households and businesses with a
b. What was the rate of inflation in 2007
total market value of $5000. The service industries
and in 2008?
spend $1000 on computers and paper and enve-
c. What were the rates of growth of the la-
lopes supplied by the goods industries. The goods
bour force and employment from 2006
industries spend $1000 to buy financial, insur-
to 2007, and 2007 to 2008?
ance, advertising, and custodial supplies from the
d. What happened to the unemployment
service industries. Explain how you measure nom-
rate between 2006 and 2007, and between
inal GDP in this economy and the value of output
2007 and 2008?
you find.
2. Suppose the economy represented by the
5. Suppose you are given the following data on in-
table in question 1 above had a population
comes and expenditures for the economy of
of 27.885 thousand in 2008.
Westland, in current prices for factors of produc-
a. What were the participation and employ-
tion and outputs.
ment rates in the economy in those years?
b. Suppose a mild recession in that year dis- Consumption expenditures 2500
couraged some unemployed workers and Employment income 2800
they stop looking for work. As a result Government expenditure 800
the participation rate fell to 64.5 per Net indirect taxes 150
cent. How would the unemployment Exports 1200
rate and the employment rate be af- Business income 700
fected? Why? Capital consumption allowance 200
Investment expenditure 600
3. If brewers buy barley and hops from agricul- Imports 1100
tural producers, natural gas to fire their brew Investment income 150
kettles from gas companies, and bottles from
glass manufacturers, as in the following a. What is the value of nominal GDP measured
table, what is the value added of the brewing by expenditures?
industry? b. What is net domestic income?
If brewers also wholesale some of their c. What is the value of nominal GDP measured
output to pubs, is that output counted in by the income approach?
GDP? Explain your answer.

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Measuring National Economic Activity and Performance CHAPTER 4 93

6. Suppose GDP is $2000, consumption expenditure c. If changes in the standard of living can be
is $1700, government expenditure is $50, and net measured by changes in real per capita GDP,
exports are $40. did growth in nominal and real GDP raise the
a. What is business investment expenditure? standard of living in this economy from 2007
b. If exports are $350, what are imports? to 2008?
c. If the capital consumption allowance for de- d. Explain the reasons for the change in standard
preciation is $130 and net indirect taxes are of living that you have found.
$100, what is net domestic income?
d. In this example, net exports are positive. Could Nominal GDP GDP Deflator Population
they be negative? Year (Billion $) (2000 5 100) (Millions)

2007 750 104.0 25.0

7. a. Using the data in Table 4.5 (page 80), calculate 2008 825 112.0 30.0
the percentage share of each of the major ex-
penditure components in GDP. What is the
largest component? 11. Internet Visit the United Nations
b. Similarly, calculate the shares of the different Development Program (UNDP) Web site,
factor incomes in net domestic income and in and consult the latest Human Development
GDP. What is the largest income share in each Report (hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007–
case? 2008). How does Canada’s ranking by the HDI in-
dex compare with its ranking based on per capita
8. Suppose you have the following measure of in- real GDP?
come-based nominal GDP.
12. Internet Visit the Statistics Canada Web
PY 5 W 1 BI 1 CCA 1 TIN site, www.statcan.gc.ca, and examine the
PY 5 600 1 200 1 100 1 100 5 1000 latest data on unemployment,
inflation, and growth in real GDP by industry.
Now an increase in the average wage rate in the Following the links in the “Latest Indicators” box
economy increases employment income by 5 per- on the right-hand side of the home page, write a
cent without any change in total employment or brief note on Statistics Canada’s explanations of
real GDP. the latest changes in these indicators.
a. What effect would this increase in employ-
ment income have on costs of production? 13. Internet The Canadian Economy Online Web site
b. If business raised prices to pass on these changed provided by the Government of Canada,
costs to buyers, how much would prices change, canadianeconomy.gc.ca/, provides a link
as measured by the GDP deflator? that reports provincial and territorial
economic indicators. Using the latest data re-
9. Suppose business and investment income is ported on that link, examine the differences in
20 percent of nominal GDP. A rise in profit mar- unemployment and inflation across provinces.
gins in industry increases business and investment Write a brief note on the range of unemployment
income by 5 percent, without any change in out- and inflation rates across provinces, and the rela-
put. What effect would this have on prices as mea- tionship, if any that you see between provincial
sured by the GDP deflator? unemployment rates and inflation rates.

10. Consider the information about a hypothetical

economy in the table below:
a. Calculate the growth (percentage change) in
nominal GDP from 2007 to 2008.
b. What was real GDP in 2007 and 2008? How
much did real GDP grow?

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