GDP of USA - 2013

2013 GDP in Nominal Terms $17.078.3 Trillion

1. Personal Consumption Expenditures

 In 2013, $10.832 trillion of the $15.942 (real terms) trillion produced went toward household purchases. The BEA sub-divides personal consumption expenditures into goods and services.

Here's the latest retail sales statistics.

Goods contributed $3.706 trillion in 2013, almost 1/4 of total GDP.
Goods are further sub-divided into two components. The first is durable goods, such as autos and furniture. This sub-component is  $1.358 trillion. The second is non-durable goods, such as food, clothing and fuel. This contributed $2.366 trillion.

Services are a much larger sub-component of personal consumption expenditures. In 2013, $7.125 trillion in services was produced, nearly half (44.7%) of GDP. In the 1960s, when services contributed less than 30% to the economy. A large driver of this growth has been the dramatic increase of the financial services and health care industries. Most of the services are consumed only in USA and they are difficult to export.


2. Business Investment

Business investment includes purchases that companies make to produce consumer goods.

Total business investment in 2013 was $2.643 trillion, beating its pre-recession peak of $2.327 trillion in 2006, and nearly double its post-recession low of $1.549 trillion in 2009. The BEA divides business investment into two sub-components: Fixed Investment and Change in Private Inventory.

Most of Fixed Investment is non-residential investment, contributing $2.022 trillion in 2013. This consists primarily of of business equipment, such as software and  capital goods.

An  important part of non-residential investment is commercial real estate construction. Commercial real estate's contribution to GDP went from a high of $586.3 billion in 2008 to its low of $376.3 billion in 2010. In 2013, it rebounded a bit to $436 billion or 2.7% of GDP.



Fixed investment also includes residential construction, which includes new single-family homes, condos and townhouses. New home building reached its peak in 2005, when it added $775 billion to GDP. It didn't hit bottom until 2011, when only $338.7 billion was added. Residential construction rebounded to $489 billion or 3.1% of GDP in 2013.

Combined commercial and residential real estate construction contributed $1.195 trillion, or 8.9% of GDP, at its peak in 2006. It fell to a low of $716.9 billion, or 4.9% of GDP, in 2010. In 2013, it was $925.4 billion, or 5.8% of GDP.

The second sub-component of business investment is Change in Private Inventory.  In 2006, companies added $60 billion to inventories. In 2007, they only added $29 billion. After the 2008 financial crisis hit, businesses subtracted $41 billion from their inventories, and withdrew another $160 billion in 2009. Economists knew the recession was really over in 2010, when businesses added $66.9 billion to inventory. In 2013, inventories rose $111.7 billion, nearly double the prior year.


3. Government Spending

Government spending added $2.939  trillion to the economy in 2013, 18.4% of total GDP. This was up from 17% in 2000, but less than the 19% it contributed in 2006.
The Federal Government added $1.125 trillion. $694 billion was military spending. On the other hand, state and local governments can't spend more during a recession. State and local government contributed $1.743 billion in 2013.

4. Net Exports of Goods and Services

Imports and exports have opposite effects on GDP. Exports add, while imports subtract, from GDP. The U.S. imports more than it exports, which creates a trade deficit. That's because the U.S. imports a lot of petroleum, and its service-based economy is difficult to export.

 In 2013, imports were $2.446 trillion, while exports were $2.064 trillion. As a result, international trade subtracted $383 billion from GDP. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts Tables, Table 1.1.5., Gross Domestic Product  Note: The figures reported are real GDP, and are rounded to the nearest billion. )

http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/f/GDP_Components.htm

http://www.data360.org/pub_dp_report.aspx?Data_Plot_Id=768

Poverty Prevention and Alleviation in USA

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/economic-inequality-in-america-developing-a-new-war-on-poverty/#more-141142



Lyndon Johnson declared War on Poverty 50 years ago.

To many Americans, the war on poverty declared 50 years ago by President Lyndon B. Johnson has largely failed. The poverty rate has fallen only to 15 percent from 19 percent in two generations, and 46 million Americans live in households where the government considers their income scarcely adequate.

Obama Quotations

"As long as I am President, our national mission will remain building an America where everyone belongs, and everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead."


When people are judged by merit, not connections, then the best and brightest can lead the country, people will work hard, and the entire economy will grow - everyone will benefit and more resources will be available for all, not just select groups.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
~Barack Obama, speech, February 5, 2008

“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.’”
Barack Obama, The New Yorker, May 31, 2004

“It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.”
~Barack Obama, Labor Day Speech, September 7, 2010

If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.

Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. And it will leave you unfulfilled.

Faith doesn't mean that you don't have doubts.


Don't become lazy as a democracy

I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics.



When people are judged by merit, not connections, then the best and brightest can lead the country, people will work hard, and the entire economy will grow - everyone will benefit and more resources will be available for all, not just select groups.


It's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

We have a stake in one another … what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and ... if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done for the people with whom we share this Earth.


Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.

Most people who serve in Washington have been trained either as lawyers or as political operatives – professions that tend to place a premium on winning arguments rather than solving problems. 


"We've got a story to tell that isn't just against something but is for something."

“With the magnitude of the challenges we face right now, what we need in Washington are not more political tactics — we need more good ideas. We don’t need more point-scoring — we need more problem-solving.”
~Barack Obama, press conference, March 17, 2009

“I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity. For history tells a different story. History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas. ... In each case, government didn’t supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive.”
~Barack Obama, Address to Joint Session of Congress, February 2009

“Hostility and hatred are no match for justice; they offer no pathway to peace.”
~Barack Obama, speech, February 2009

Presented by Stephen D. Foster Jr.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/07/the-words-of-a-true-leader-60-president-obama-quotes-that-put-republicans-to-shame/

Election Day - USA - Tuesday Following First Monday - November

Election Day in the United States of America is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. It can fall on or between November 2 and November 8. It is the day when popular ballots are held to select public officials. These include national, state and local government representatives at all levels up to the president.

In 1792, a law was passed allowing each of the states to conduct presidential elections at any point in the 34 days before the first Wednesday in December.  A date in November or early December was preferable because the harvest would have been finished, but the most severe winter storms would not have begun.

As long distance communication improved and became quicker with the advent of trains and telegraphs, allowing each state to conduct its elections at any point in a period of more than a month, became outdated. The results of the elections that were announced earliest could influence the outcomes of elections held later in the permitted period.

In 1845 the United States Congress chose a single date for all national elections in all states. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November was chosen so that there would never be more than 34 days between Election Day and the first Wednesday in December. Election Day is held on a Tuesday so that voters will not have to vote or travel on Sunday. 

Use Your Common Sense Day - 4 November

 The day got started back with the American cowboy and actor, Will Rogers.  Rogers use to say that, “Common sense ain’t all that common.”  He was born on November 4th in the year 1879.

National Chicken Lady Day - November 4

National Chicken Lady Day is for honoring Dr. Marthenia "Tina" Dupree who was given this nickname because she worked for a major chicken fast food chain for many years of her life and many people in the community refered to her as the chicken lady.


Dr. Dupree worked for several years in one of the highest level positions for the second largest chicken restaurant chain in the world as their Director of Community Relations and Training. When Tina resigned her position with the corporation to start her own business, the fast food restaurant chain hired her and retained Tina as their spokesperson and community representative.

Tina Dupree was invited to meet President Bush in the Oval Office due to her efforts to raise the educational standards in her community.

In honor of Dr. Dupree, President Bush proclaimed November 4th as "National Chicken Lady Day!"

Sandwich Day - November 3

The annals of English history report that John Montagu was the 4th Earl of Sandwich.
Montagu often spent many long hours in London's gambling parlors. In 1762, he created the sandwich, by putting meat between two pieces of bread that allowed him to remain at the gambling table for long periods of time. The sandwich got its name from him.

It is no coincidence that November 3 is also the birthday of John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich.



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America's Favorite Sandwiches

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/main-dish/sandwiches-and-wraps/

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/20/10-best-sandwich-recipes