ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces some of the most relevant data on macroeconomic indicators and well-being. Media stories of economic performance frequently refer to gross domestic product (GDP). A country’s GDP per capita measures economic production per person per year, which gives an idea of the average material living standards in the country. The chapter presents data on the United States relative to other countries in order to provide some international perspective on the performance of the US economy. It utilizes use the classification provided by the World Bank to categorize countries into high-income, middle-income and low-income groups based on their gross national income per capita. The highest growth in GDP per capita occurred in Turkmenistan, primarily from oil and gas development, with high growth also in China, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and India. One measure of the economic efficiency of a country is labor productivity.
