[bryanlarsen]

Imports are neutral to GDP. The reason they're subtracted in the standard formula for GDP is that makes it easier to count.

GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Exports - Imports

The reason that imports are subtracted is because Consumption, Government Spending and Exports all have a domestic and imported component. So instead you could have GDP = (Domestically produced consumption) + Investment + (Government spending on domestic products) + (Domestically produced Exports) and not subtract imports.

But that's a lot harder to measure than measuring totals and subtracting imports.

[827a]

Imports may be neutral to GDP, but they aren't neutral to this forecasting model [1]

[1] https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2025/03/a-comment-on-gdpn...

[bryanlarsen]

Yes, they're part of the model because they're not excluded during consumption calculations.