Mushy peas and measuring the economy

Every month there is a torrent of macroeconomic data for the city scribblers to unwind and analyse. It was once said that God invented decimal points to make macroeconomists look interesting! This feature on the BBC news site is welcome because it reminds us of the wide margin for error when calculating huge numbers such as a nation’s gross domestic product. Policy making is difficult enough without the drag of using inaccurate, incomplete and out-of-date information on the economy.

“Counts and measurements swamp the news - of everything from the growth (or slump) of the economy to the extent of yobbish behaviour. They’re often reported as if straightforward child’s play, like counting your toes. That couldn’t be more wrong - the world is a massive mess; the task more like counting an ocean of mushy peas.”

The rest of the article is here

Unit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK [23 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Positive and Negative Multiplier Effects [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Importance of Productivity [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Human Development Index (HDI) [20 May 2012]
Q&A: What do we need to know about output gaps? [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Output Gap [20 May 2012]
Revision notes on unemployment [20 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Bank Cuts UK growth Forecast for 2012 [16 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision Notes on Supply-side Policies [10 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Fiscal Policy Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Economic Cycle Glossary [5 May 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Aggregate Demand Glossary [5 May 2012]
Macro Revision - Key Statistics on the UK Economy [4 May 2012]
Macro Revision: Putting Things in Context [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Britain back in Recession [29 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Managing the Global Commons - Limits to GDP [15 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Balance of Payments in 2011 [4 Apr 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Productivity Improvements in China [3 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Revision on Real Economic Data [2 Apr 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Gross National Happiness in Bhutan [31 Mar 2012]
Posen on slower growth in the UK compared to the USA [30 Mar 2012]
Global Economy- the 2012 BRICS Summit [28 Mar 2012]
Life in the Slow Lane - UK Growth in 2011 Lags the Euro Area [28 Mar 2012]
George Buckley at the Millfield Economics Society [28 Mar 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The Dash for Gas in Mozambique [17 Feb 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Comparative Advantage [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Trade and Growth [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Carbon Emissions and Growth [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Per Capita Incomes [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Changing Economic Structure [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Economic Growth [24 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Brazil Overtakes UK in Economic Size [26 Dec 2011]
Where is the UK Economy? National Output [22 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
AS and A2 Macro: GDP resources from Planet Money [31 Oct 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (2) [13 Oct 2011]
Keynes Prize: The Economics of Cities (1) [12 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: UK suffers a weak recovery [12 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Exercise on National income [27 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Greek Economy at Default’s Door [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Measuring national income [16 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Value Added and Contributions to a Nation’s GDP [16 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Introduction to GDP [15 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Economic Growth and Inequality [14 Sep 2011]
Study Note - What is Macroeconomics? [13 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Value Added in Production and GDP [11 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: GDP per person since the credit crunch [19 Aug 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Demand Pull Inflation [24 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Deflation [24 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Trend Growth [23 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Recession [23 May 2011]
AS Macro: GDP Projections [19 May 2011]
EU Economics: Comparing the UK with Europe [14 May 2011]
UK Economy Update: What Mervyn Said [11 May 2011]
Macroeconomics revision - measuring Consumer Confidence [4 May 2011]
AS and A2 Macro Revision: The China Effect [26 Apr 2011]
Australia Booming Ahead [21 Apr 2011]
Rise in investment could kick start recovery [18 Apr 2011]
China set to become exporter of inflation [14 Apr 2011]
A2 Macro: Back to Roubini - a Year On! [11 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Double-Dip Recession [8 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Jobless Recovery [8 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Gross National Income (GNI) [7 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Economic Structure [6 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Inflationary Pressure [5 Apr 2011]
Focus on Poland [5 Apr 2011]
Tracking the effects of the recession on GDP [5 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Expansionary Monetary Policy [4 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Fiscal Deficit [3 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Current Account Deficit [2 Apr 2011]
The Scale of Remittances [1 Apr 2011]
OCR F585 June 2011: Data Charts (2) [30 Mar 2011]
Progress towards low carbon economic growth [18 Mar 2011]
Keeping Track of UK Macro Objectives [18 Mar 2011]
UK Economy - the search for growth [16 Mar 2011]
Timetric: Income per capita over the (very) long run! [13 Mar 2011]
Focus on Japan - Human Catastrophe, Economic Risks [13 Mar 2011]
Timetric: UK Consumption as a Share of GDP [12 Mar 2011]
EU Economics: How far is the Eurozone away from being an OCA? [12 Mar 2011]
Dambisa Moyo - How the West was Lost [11 Mar 2011]
A virtuous circle of recovery - Paul Krugman [6 Mar 2011]
The Consumer Pants Index (CPI) [1 Mar 2011]
EU Economics: Germany leads Euro Zone revival [25 Feb 2011]
Never Mind Plan B - Plan V needed for the UK Economy! [17 Feb 2011]
Migrants’ Transfers and the Balance of Payments [11 Feb 2011]
David Smith on Shifting Sands in the Global Economy [8 Feb 2011]
Globalisation - Peering into the MIST? [1 Feb 2011]
Choppy Times - An Economic Cycle Update and Resource Download [25 Jan 2011]
An Aggregate Supply puzzle [24 Jan 2011]
US GDP compared to other countries [23 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: Will the Government spending cuts affect inflation? [3 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: Why might Europe’s weaker economies struggle to grow in the next few years? [2 Jan 2011]
Revision: Consequences of Unemployment [1 Jan 2011]
EU Economics: Estonia joins the Euro [27 Dec 2010]
A seasonal introduction to Consumption, Government Spending and Aggregate Demand. [22 Dec 2010]
Using Google Docs - The Irish Financial Crisis [29 Nov 2010]
What You Need to Know About Economics [18 Nov 2010]

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