nternational guidelines for economic activity" (Hildebrand 194). In a country such as the U. S., GDP and GNP "are not much different in magnitude," especially in comparison to the difference in less-developed nations where profits are exported and the GNP shows only a relatively small portion of the nation's economic activity (Kacapyr 10).
In the United States the GDP is compiled on a quarterly basis by the Department of Commerce. The data are accumulated by "a small army of people," each of whom assumes responsibility for a product or group of products by conducting surveys and remaining in contact "with the major manufacturers and retailers to distill their numbers" (Kacapyr 9). Unfortunately, estimates must be made from this data that apply to the rest of the manufacturers and retailers. These estimates are not always correct, especially since "the most dynamic parts of the economy are small firms constantly coming into and going out of business, which may never be surveyed" (Economist 29). The evidence from sampling is, however, supplemented by the information available from, for example, customs clearances or tax assessment. But it is also true that GDP fails to measure a significant part of a country's economic activity. Goods or services that one provides for oneself--such as home repairs or meal preparation--are not counted. All these assorted activities as well as other unrecorded transactions, especially those of a criminal nature, are part of th
...