RC5

pitfall

The Gross Domestic Product.

(GDP), which measures the dollar

value of finished goods and services

produced by an economy during a

(5) given period, serves as the chief indi-

cator of the economic well-being of the

United States. The GDP assumes that

the economic significance of goods and

services lies solely in their price, and

(10) that these goods and services add to

the national well-being, not because of

any intrinsic value they may possess,

but simply because they were pro-

duced and bought. AdditiersonName w:st="on">oersonName>ersonName w:st="on">nersonName>ally, ersonName w:st="on">oersonName>ersonName w:st="on">nersonName>ly

(15) those goods and services involved in

monetary transactions are included in

the GDP. Thus, the GDP igersonName w:st="on">nersonName>ores the

economic utility of such things as a

clean environment and cohesive fam-

(20) ilies and communities, It is therefore

not merely coincidental, since national

policies in capitalist and noncapitalist

countries alike are dependent on indi-

cators such as the GDP, that both the

(25) environment and the social structure

have been eroded in recent decades

not only does the GDP mask this

erosion, it can actually portray it as

an economic gain: an oil spill off a

(30) coastal region “adds” to the GDP

because it generates commercial

activity. In short, the nation’s central      

measure of economic well-being works

like a calculating machine that adds but

cannot subtract.