What does the gross domestic product (GDP) have to do with America being rich?

Question

What does the gross domestic product (GDP) have to do with America being rich?

Answer 1

GDP is a measure of the total of goods produced in a country (this is not an accurate statement, but should give you the general idea without going into unnecessary complications). Since the goods produced can be used for consumption, for investment, or to trade with other countries for other desirable goods, the GDP gives us a sense of how "rich" a country is.

However, the GDP is a measure of the TOTAL wealth of the society. It says nothing about how wealth is distributed WITHIN the society. A country with a high GDP can have all of its wealth allocated to a few individuals or spread out more evenly over the entire society.

Answer 2

GDP determines how the economy runs. If it goes high, the economy rises.. America has the highest GDP which means a lot of functions in market and economy... and more trade and economy mean more money for the govt..

Answer 3

its how much money ppl in the US make

Answer 4

GDP measures the value of everything that is produced in a country.  The more a country produces, the greater the income received, so a high GDP denotes a rich country.

Answer 5

GDP = consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports − imports) as well as what everyone else said. And the US still has one of the highest GDP around.

The amount of food we produce is insane, and the number of countries that are dependant on our food production are great.

Answer 6

Because it takes into account all the money we have spent.

It does not have anything to do with our wealth; rather, it is a relection of our wealth.  America's wealth comes from its economy.