Reference no: EM133278034

Question 1. Robert Kennedy, when seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, remarked that GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile. What do you think he meant by this statement? What do you think he feels is missing when measuring GDP.

Question 2. Do you feel that economists are guilty of discrimination when they don't count the long hours a stay at home mother or father spends raising a family?

Question 3. Table 14.4 in your text (pg. 383) compares real GDP per person in the US between 1960 and 2016. This shows real GDP per person in 2013 at almost 3 times that of 1960. Does that mean that people in the US are 3 times happier in 2013 as compared to 1960?

Question 4. During the 1960's the potential growth rate of GDP grew at an average of 20.8% per year. Since 1970 though, the growth rate of a potential of GDP has been about 1.9% a year (pg. 383 bottoms). Using this as a gauge explain why you think the US economy is either better or worse off today than it was 50 years ago.

Question 5. If underground production esp. the production and sale of illegal drugs were counted in GDP, it would have made up about 16% of GDP; a huge amount. Explain why you feel that economists and the government do not count these goods as part of GDP.

Question 6. Even though the per person real GDP in the US is among the highest in the world, explain why you feel that this may be misleading in terms of the quality of life for individuals in the US (think leisure, environment, health, social justice etc.).