Talk:Gross National Income

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Why would the U.S. government select Gross Domestic Product as a better indicator of economic activity in the United States than Gross National Income? Asked by Umbie1 on 18 March 2006.

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When built out, this should include more cross-referencing. I'm converting one capitalized term to a cross-reference. GRBerry 16:29, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

To answer the question: GDP is a more robust national account statistic, because it involves less 'fiddling', as the respective articles on GDP and GNI should tell you. Unless there is a significant discrepancy between the two figures (as in significant net income transfers of capital and labour, as in Ireland or Saudi Arabia), then GDP will always be a better statistic, less prone to calculation error. In the US, net factor income is plus/minus zero; which is to say, given the sheer size of output value, the difference is not significantly greater than the measurement error. Ribbit 19:09, 2 October 2006 (UTC)