Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Turskarama 1020 days ago
"Real GDP", which is the one usually reported on, is already adjusted for inflation and is usually reported as a percentage (i.e. it is unitless).

What this means is that if 100% of growth comes just from inflation then "GDP" will have increased but "Real GDP" wouldn't have.

1 comments

Growth rates are expressed as percentages. The underlying value, GDP, is measured in money.
Yes, but I'm trying to tell you that doesn't matter. GDP is measured in money, but growth is measured as a percentage so it's unitless.
I think what you want to be saying is that GDP is measured in constant monetary units, e.g., "1980 dollars" or "2010 euros".

That monetary equivalence equates to real purchasing power over goods and services. Nominal changes in currency values (whether foreign-exchange or inflation/deflation) are pencilled out in this way.

And the GDP growth that is measured is as a percentage in terms of those constant currency units. Which, again, reflect actual capacity to purchase material goods or the product of energetic effort.