Depressing, isn’t it?

(1919-2004)
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/07cobulhis.pdf

2006
Total Output = $24.7 trillion
vs.
GDP = $13.2 trillion

I-O Tables
Use Table
The Use of Commodities by Industries before Redefinitions (1997 to 2006)
http://www.bea.gov/industry/iotables/table_list.cfm?anon=62837

Or, take a look at the Corporate Tax Return data from the IRS

2003
Total Receipts = $20.7 trillion
vs.
GDP = $10.7 trillion

http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/bustaxstats/article/0,,id=96388,00.html#_bm1

All the money injected into the economy from the “stimulus package” would have been spent anyway by the government, unless more money is being printed; which is most likely the case. What is interesting is that were I not married, the extra money I have earned doing side jobs; would have put me just out of reach to get any tax rebate. “Luckily” my spouse makes less and we will get a rebate. Here we see where there is a negative incentive to be productive. I would much rather spend my rebate on beer and trans fats than do freelance projects after work. Since everyone qualified to do these projects makes a somewhat similar wage, perhaps the job doesn’t get done at all. Or more realistically, it gets done, but something else is left undone or done more poorly. How does any of this help the economy?

However, your point about wages paid to government employees being consumption expenditures made me realize that all taxes and fees paid to government are, in fact, consumption expenditures, as they aren’t spent with the purpose of making future sales. Most of them could even be considered sunk costs, which don’t really figure into GDP, but if considered could be more appropriately classified as the “leakage” so touted by Keynesians.

professor reisman is right to attack the “consumption-is-two-thirds-of-gdp” refrain. it rolls of the tongue of every talking head and is the invitation card for all sorts of keynesian spending initiatives.

Somehow I don’t see a central bank awarding a nobel prize to an Austrian. FRB and criticism of how banks transfer wealth from the people to themselves springs to mind as reasons.

When Mr. Reisman says, “…national income equals the sum of profits plus wages,” it seems like wages are being counted twice, as profit would be revenues minus costs, and I would assume wages paid to employees are considered a “cost”.

Hopefully the question makes sense. I’m no accountant (obviously), and I’m trying to make sense of this. I may have totally missed the boat on this particular point, though, so any help would be appreciated.

I’ve had similar distaste for it. It seems rather vacuous on the whole.

Hopefully the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will make the necessary adjustments in their criteria requirements to make their award meaningful.

I suppose I am unable to calculate these measures because the BEA’s national accounts are poorly organized. I sent an e-mail to the BEA asking which line items should be included to calculate Johnsson’s “costs other than depreciation of fixed assets”, and of course they were unable to provide an answer in their response.

Can anyone help me determine which specific line items to include from the BEA GDP report to compute Reisman’s “sales minus cost plus wages”? Again, I’m looking for the line items as they appear in GDP report. Thanks so much.

Here’s the link location to a PDF with the all the GDP accounts: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2008/pdf/gdp407a.pdf

If you would like to include cell numbers instead, here’s the link location to an excel sheet with all the GDP accounts: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2008/xls/gdp407a.xls

Compare the analysis he presents in this article (if you like this, read the entire chapter 15, plus chapters 16 -18 of his book Capitalism. The latter is devoted exclusively to positive economics of Keynes) with the work of last year’s Laureates, for example. The one is work of a genius capable of transforming the entire science of economics, while writtings of others are more like children’s plays than serious science.

http://mises.org/daily/2878