a) UPDATE THE KEY NATIONAL INCOME AND PRODUCT ACCOUNT NUMBERS
Go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, www.bea.gov, and access the BEA interactively by selecting National Accounts and then National Income and Product Account Tables. Select Frequently Requested NIPA Tables, and find Table 1.1.5 on GDP. Find out GDP by its components (Consumption, Investment, Government, and net export expenditures) using the latest available quarterly data for 2010.
b) NOMINAL GDP AND REAL GDP BOTH UP?
Visit the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, www.bea.gov, and access the BEA interactively by selecting National Accounts and then National Income and Product Account Tables. Select Frequently Requested NIPA Tables, and use Tables 1.1.5 and 1.1.6 to identify the GDP (nominal GDP) and real GDP for the past four quarters. Why was nominal GDP greater than real GDP in each of those quarters? What were the percentage changes in nominal GDP and real GDP for the most recent quarter? What accounts for the difference?