Assessment of Historical Growth in the US Economy Essay

Assessment of Historical Growth in the US Economy - Essay Example The Constant dollar GDP is also known as the 'Real GDP represents the quantity of economic output. Real GDP is always used in measuring the overall rate at which an economy is grown. The current dollar GDP represents the market value of goods and services produced in a period in a country. In order to solve our question of whether the USA is enjoying the longest continuous expansion of its economy since modern records began the best solution is to retrieve the GDP figures of the US economy over a period up to which the records are available. And compare them to check for the trend of the growth in the US economy expressed through the GDP figures. Usually such kinds of economic data can be obtained from the website of Bureau of Economic Analysis. (BEA) An analysis of the US GDP is expressed in chained dollars in the BEA Website for the period from 1929 to 2006 last quarter. An analysis of the historical GDP figures indicate that the US economy has been continuously showing an increasing trend only except for some years where it shows a negative trend. Especially in the years where there were recessions of the economy the GDP has been continuously growing. From the following Chart it can be observed that the growth of the US economy suffered slightly during the years 1974, 1982 and 1991. These are the known periods of recession where the US economy was recoding a negative growth of -0.51 percent, -1.97percetn, and -0.17percent respectively which are very negligible. Apart from these small deviations in the near past the US economy has been continuously doing well. The observed data is also produced below to show that in the real values also the GDP of the US economy is growing continuously except for intermittent reversals to negative figures. These negative figures are not significant except for certain years like 1932 and 1946 where the negative growth is showing high figures -14.94 percent in 1932 and -12.39 in the year 1946. Chart Showing the Growth in the US Economy From the chart it may also be observed that there has been continuous positive growth in the US GDP figures during the longest spell of year 1992 to year 2006. Thus by examining the growth of the GDP of United States over a period, the statement that "The USA is enjoying today the longest continuous expansion of its economy since modern records began" can be proved. Table Showing the US GDP figures over the years Year GDP Chained Year GDP Chained