Gdp

On May 25, 1961 United States President John F Kennedy proposed to the Congress that the nation set a goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely by the end of the decade.

Kennedy’s comments not only fired the gun in the space race but they also began a productivity revolution. The US would invest heavily in mathematicians and scientists, research and development that would drive innovation and change the nature of business and lifestyles forever.

In the last 50 years technology has been the game changer when it comes to productivity. The introduction of the personal computer and internet to business has revolutionised communications and interaction between businesses particularly in the global context. 

Continue reading "What the Space Race can teach us about productivity" »

Consumer spending is good, right? We are told in the media all the time to spend more, and we worry when “consumer confidence” is down. Why is that?

In short, the answer is because we have a GDP to look after. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is one of our key financial indicators, and in developed western societies consumer spending makes up approximately 65 per cent of GDP.

If consumer spending is a large determinant of GDP, then the more we spend the higher our GDP and the better the economy. So if we are being told to spend just so we have an increasingly higher GDP, then someone, somewhere must have worked out that this must be good for its citizens right?

Continue reading "Consumption need not be a deadly disease" »