U.S. Annual GDP Was 2.3 Percent in 2017
1.5 Percent in 2016 versus 2.3 Percent in 2017
Real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased 2.3 in 2017, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) at the Commerce Department. In comparison, real GDP rose only 1.5 percent in 2016. Gross domestic product is the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production. GDP is also equal to the sum of personal consumption expenditures, gross private domestic investment, net exports of goods and services, and government consumption expenditures and gross investment.
While 2.3 percent GDP doesn’t make 2017 a stellar year, it’s above 2 percent and that seems to be where the real pain seems to set in for regular folks. It also seems to be the point when voters seem to be more willing to take it out on their elected officials. That is, of course, if you believe that votes count in a system as corrupt and rigged as American democracy has become.
It’s the economy, stupid.
Political strategist, James Carville, coined the phrase “the economy, stupid” as one of the internal messages to the campaign workers on Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 campaign for President of the United States. Since then, a version of this saying has become sort of a catch-phrase among political academics and pundits in the form of “it’s the economy, stupid”, highlighting the common-sense notion that little else matters when people are worried about paying the bills.
This may seem kind of unfair to politicians when so many other factors can play into how the economy performs. But it’s undeniable that government policies, particularly taxation and expenditures, play a substantial role in how the economy is doing. But “it’s the economy, stupid” was clearly part of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign strategy, while Hillary Clinton and the Democrats latched onto virtue signaling. What do you think resonated more with the average American in an election year where GDP was only dismal 1.5 percent?
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Resource Links:
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, “National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product: Fourth Quarter and Annual 2017 (March 28, 2018).
- GDP graph image credit to BEA article cited above.
