GDP vs. GNP

LITTLE ROCK — Last week I wondered about the difference between Gross National Product, which we used to use to measure the U.S. economy, and Gross Domestic Product, which we use now.

Further, I wondered why the switch was made (in 1991, as it happens).

“As I understand it,” reader Mike Collins writes, “we went to GDP because it more accurately reflects both what we produce inside our borders and the number of jobs related to that activity.

“GNP, which measures all the profits and output of American companies anywhere in the world, was thought to skew economic projections because it showed output for which there was no corresponding employment.

“It was also changed because the models used by economists assume that a dollar turns over a certain number of times in the economy. Since that dollar wasn’t actually inside America, the totals related to its economic impact were also off.

“Short answer: GDP is seen as more accurate, giving those folks who make projections a better handle on what’s really going on here at home.”

How much GDP grows from one period to the next, I am told, is an indication of a country’s economic health. America’s GDP expanded 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 over the previous quarter, so I guess we are a tad healthier.

Thanks for the explanation, Mike.

Thank-yous

Longtime readers will note that we don’t often publish thank-you letters. That’s largely because, even in troubled times, maybe especially in troubled times, just about everyone has one in him and space on this page is very limited. We just haven’t room for all of them to “publicly thank” all the good Samaritans out there.

From time to time, most notably after a particularly nasty storm or other “weather event” has hit Arkansas or one of its neighbors, we relax the not hank-yous constraints so that groups of people-emergency workers, letter or newspaper carriers, volunteers and the like-can enjoy a few kudos for their service to others. And every time we do, we are inundated with such letters, to the point that we just can’t publish them all and put anything else on the page. When that happens, we have to tighten up again.

In short, today is it for this round of snow thanks. I’m including a couple in my space because, even though some have singled out particular individuals, everyone in the classes cited deserves, at the very least, a pat on the back.

We’ll kick it off with this nice note from Radine Trees Nehring from Gravette, which got hit by a reported 24 inches of snow the last time around.

“This is a blanket thank-you to all of the Benton to all of the Benton County Road Department for their excellent (and very difficult) work digging county roads out during and after the recent storms,” she writes. “My husband and I lived in rural Benton County for many years, and though the challenges this time were much greater than we’ve experienced before, the clearing work was outstanding. The department also responded to citizens with special needs who were prisoners behind walls of ice and snow. I’m grateful to a department that has both heart and skill. May all other Arkansas counties be similarly served!”

Most of the state was hard hit, some parts much worse than others. I think many of us have a renewed appreciation for the hardworking state and local road crews, emergency response teams (uniformed and otherwise) and volunteers who risked life, limb and frostbite to dig folks out of some terrible situations and avert calamity.

Of course, this being a newspaper, most of the thank-yous that came in were for individual carriers, hardy, conscientious folks like Howard Shelton, Cheryl Hudgens, Wesley Combs and many, many others whose names we do not know. Let the following sentiments speak to all of them, regardless of where they are or which newspaper they hand-deliver.

“Kudos to the carriers. Neither snow nor rain nor neat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from their swift completion of their appointed rounds,” writes Pamela Barnes of North Little Rock. “This is the unofficial motto of the post office when it should be the official motto of those dedicated carriers of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I’ve been here 14 years, through many bad weather days, and my paper has always been delivered. Not so much with the post office. Kudos and my thanks.”

To which I must add that I was stuck on top of an icy hill and couldn’t go anywhere for almost three days last week, but both the mail and the newspaper continued to arrive. I don’t know how they did it.

Associate Editor Meredith Oakley is editor of the Voices page.