ABSTRACT
The U. S. economy is the largest in the world. In 2012 it produced over $15.5 trillion in final goods and services-almost 22 percent of total global economic production as measured by GDP of all the world’s countries. In order to understand in more detail how a national economy functions, in this chapter we take a closer look at the U.S. economy. This also requires thinking beyond the country’s borders, because the management of a country’s natural resources or financial system can affect the welfare of other countries or the entire planet. Thus while our discussion in this chapter focuses on the United States, at times we consider this country in a broader international framework.
