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Frequent Links
Open Access Articles- Top Results for Gross domestic product
Journal of Business & Financial AffairsRelationship between FDI and GDP: A Case Study of South Asian Countries
Arabian Journal of Business and Management ReviewA Study of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on Manufacturing Industry in India: An Emerging Economic Opportunity of GDP Growth and Challenges
The Journal of Internet Banking and CommerceAnalysis of Government Disaggregated Expenditures and Growth of Nigerian Economy
Journal of Global EconomicsContribution of Agriculture Sector in the GDP Growth Rate of Pakistan
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as "an aggregate measure of production equal to the sum of the gross values added of all resident, institutional units engaged in production (plus any taxes, and minus any subsidies, on products not included in the value of their outputs)."[2]
GDP estimates are commonly used to measure the economic performance of a whole country or region, but can also measure the relative contribution of an industry sector. This is possible because GDP is a measure of 'value added' rather than sales; it adds each firm's value added (the value of its output minus the value of goods that are used up in producing it). For example, a firm buys steel and adds value to it by producing a car; double counting would occur if GDP added together the value of the steel and the value of the car.[3] Because it is based on value added, GDP also increases when an enterprise reduces its use of materials or other resources ('intermediate consumption') to produce the same output.
The more familiar use of GDP estimates is to calculate the growth of the economy from year to year (and recently from quarter to quarter). The pattern of GDP growth is held to indicate the success or failure of economic policy and to determine whether an economy is 'in recession'.
- 1 History
- 2 Determining GDP
- 3 GDP vs GNI
- 4 Nominal GDP and adjustments to GDP
- 5 Cross-border comparison and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
- 6 Per unit GDP
- 7 Standard of living and GDP: Wealth distribution and Externalities
- 8 Limitations and criticisms
- 9 Lists of countries by their GDP
- 10 List of other approaches to the measurement of (economic) progress
- 11 See also
- 12 Notes and references
- 13 Further reading
- 14 External links
|This section requires expansion. (March 2011)
The concept of GDP was first developed by Simon Kuznets for a US Congress report in 1934.[4] In this report, Kuznets warned against its use as a measure of welfare (see below under limitations and criticisms). After the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, GDP became the main tool for measuring a country's economy.[5] At that time Gross National Product (GNP) was the preferred estimate, which differed from GDP in that it measured production by a country's citizens at home and abroad rather than its 'resident institutional units' (see OECD definition above). The switch to GDP was in the 1980s.
The history of the concept of GDP should be distinguished from the history of changes in ways of estimating it. The value added by firms is relatively easy to calculate from their accounts, but the value added by the public sector, by financial industries, and by intangible asset creation is more complex. These activities are increasingly important in developed economies, and the international conventions governing their estimation and their inclusion or exclusion in GDP regularly change in an attempt to keep up with industrial advances. In the words of one academic economist "The actual number for GDP is therefore the product of a vast patchwork of statistics and a complicated set of processes carried out on the raw data to fit them to the conceptual framework."[6]
Angus Maddison calculated historical GDP figures going back to 1830 and before.
Determining GDP
GDP can be determined in three ways, all of which should, in principle, give the same result. They are the production (or output or value added) approach, the income approach, or the expenditure approach.
The most direct of the three is the production approach, which sums the outputs of every class of enterprise to arrive at the total. The expenditure approach works on the principle that all of the product must be bought by somebody, therefore the value of the total product must be equal to people's total expenditures in buying things. The income approach works on the principle that the incomes of the productive factors ("producers," colloquially) must be equal to the value of their product, and determines GDP by finding the sum of all producers' incomes.[7]
Production approach
This approach mirrors the OECD definition given above.
- Estimate the gross value of domestic output out of the many various economic activities;
- Determine the intermediate consumption, i.e., the cost of material, supplies and services used to produce final goods or services.
- Deduct intermediate consumption from gross value to obtain the gross value added.
Gross value added = gross value of output – value of intermediate consumption.
Value of output = value of the total sales of goods and services plus value of changes in the inventories.
The sum of the gross value added in the various economic activities is known as "GDP at factor cost".
GDP at factor cost plus indirect taxes less subsidies on products = "GDP at producer price".
For measuring output of domestic product, economic activities (i.e. industries) are classified into various sectors. After classifying economic activities, the output of each sector is calculated by any of the following two methods:
- By multiplying the output of each sector by their respective market price and adding them together
- By collecting data on gross sales and inventories from the records of companies and adding them together
The gross value of all sectors is then added to get the gross value added (GVA) at factor cost. Subtracting each sector's intermediate consumption from gross output gives the GDP at factor cost. Adding indirect tax minus subsidies in GDP at factor cost gives the "GDP at producer prices".
Income approach
The second way of estimating GDP is to use "the sum of primary incomes distributed by resident producer units".[2]
If GDP is calculated this way it is sometimes called gross domestic income (GDI), or GDP (I). GDI should provide the same amount as the expenditure method described later. (By definition, GDI = GDP. In practice, however, measurement errors will make the two figures slightly off when reported by national statistical agencies.)
This method measures GDP by adding incomes that firms pay households for factors of production they hire - wages for labour, interest for capital, rent for land and profits for entrepreneurship.
The US "National Income and Expenditure Accounts" divide incomes into five categories:
- Wages, salaries, and supplementary labour income
- Corporate profits
- Interest and miscellaneous investment income
- Farmers' incomes
- Income from non-farm unincorporated businesses
These five income components sum to net domestic income at factor cost.
Two adjustments must be made to get GDP:
- Indirect taxes minus subsidies are added to get from factor cost to market prices.
- Depreciation (or capital consumption allowance) is added to get from net domestic product to gross domestic product.
Total income can be subdivided according to various schemes, leading to various formulae for GDP measured by the income approach. A common one is:
- GDP = compensation of employees + gross operating surplus + gross mixed income + taxes less subsidies on production and imports
- Compensation of employees (COE) measures the total remuneration to employees for work done. It includes wages and salaries, as well as employer contributions to social security and other such programs.
- Gross operating surplus (GOS) is the surplus due to owners of incorporated businesses. Often called profits, although only a subset of total costs are subtracted from gross output to calculate GOS.
- Gross mixed income (GMI) is the same measure as GOS, but for unincorporated businesses. This often includes most small businesses.
The sum of COE, GOS and GMI is called total factor income; it is the income of all of the factors of production in society. It measures the value of GDP at factor (basic) prices. The difference between basic prices and final prices (those used in the expenditure calculation) is the total taxes and subsidies that the government has levied or paid on that production. So adding taxes less subsidies on production and imports converts GDP at factor cost to GDP(I).
Total factor income is also sometimes expressed as:
- Total factor income = employee compensation + corporate profits + proprietor's income + rental income + net interest[9]
Yet another formula for GDP by the income method is:[citation needed]
- <math>GDP = R + I + P + SA + W</math>
where R : rents
I : interests
P : profits
SA : statistical adjustments (corporate income taxes, dividends, undistributed corporate profits)
W : wages.
Expenditure approach
The third way to estimate GDP is to calculate the sum of the final uses of goods and services (all uses except intermediate consumption) measured in purchasers' prices.[2]
In economics, most things produced are produced for sale and then sold. Therefore, measuring the total expenditure of money used to buy things is a way of measuring production. This is known as the expenditure method of calculating GDP. Note that if you knit yourself a sweater, it is production but does not get counted as GDP because it is never sold. Sweater-knitting is a small part of the economy, but if one counts some major activities such as child-rearing (generally unpaid) as production, GDP ceases to be an accurate indicator of production. Similarly, if there is a long term shift from non-market provision of services (for example cooking, cleaning, child rearing, do-it yourself repairs) to market provision of services, then this trend toward increased market provision of services may mask a dramatic decrease in actual domestic production, resulting in overly optimistic and inflated reported GDP. This is particularly a problem for economies which have shifted from production economies to service economies.
Components of GDP by expenditure
GDP (Y) is the sum of consumption (C), investment (I), government spending (G) and net exports (X – M).
Here is a description of each GDP component:
- C (consumption) is normally the largest GDP component in the economy, consisting of private (household final consumption expenditure) in the economy. These personal expenditures fall under one of the following categories: durable goods, non-durable goods, and services. Examples include food, rent, jewelry, gasoline, and medical expenses but does not include the purchase of new housing.
- I (investment) includes, for instance, business investment in equipment, but does not include exchanges of existing assets. Examples include construction of a new mine, purchase of software, or purchase of machinery and equipment for a factory. Spending by households (not government) on new houses is also included in investment. In contrast to its colloquial meaning, "investment" in GDP does not mean purchases of financial products. Buying financial products is classed as 'saving', as opposed to investment. This avoids double-counting: if one buys shares in a company, and the company uses the money received to buy plant, equipment, etc., the amount will be counted toward GDP when the company spends the money on those things; to also count it when one gives it to the company would be to count two times an amount that only corresponds to one group of products. Buying bonds or stocks is a swapping of deeds, a transfer of claims on future production, not directly an expenditure on products.
- G (government spending) is the sum of government expenditures on final goods and services. It includes salaries of public servants, purchases of weapons for the military and any investment expenditure by a government. It does not include any transfer payments, such as social security or unemployment benefits.
- X (exports) represents gross exports. GDP captures the amount a country produces, including goods and services produced for other nations' consumption, therefore exports are added.
- M (imports) represents gross imports. Imports are subtracted since imported goods will be included in the terms G, I, or C, and must be deducted to avoid counting foreign supply as domestic.
A fully equivalent definition is that GDP (Y) is the sum of final consumption expenditure (FCE), gross capital formation (GCF), and net exports (X – M).
FCE can then be further broken down by three sectors (households, governments and non-profit institutions serving households) and GCF by five sectors (non-financial corporations, financial corporations, households, governments and non-profit institutions serving households). The advantage of this second definition is that expenditure is systematically broken down, firstly, by type of final use (final consumption or capital formation) and, secondly, by sectors making the expenditure, whereas the first definition partly follows a mixed delimitation concept by type of final use and sector.
Note that C, G, and I are expenditures on final goods and services; expenditures on intermediate goods and services do not count. (Intermediate goods and services are those used by businesses to produce other goods and services within the accounting year.[10] )
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is responsible for calculating the national accounts in the United States, "In general, the source data for the expenditures components are considered more reliable than those for the income components [see income method, below]."[11]
Examples of GDP component variables
C, I, G, and NX(net exports): If a person spends money to renovate a hotel to increase occupancy rates, the spending represents private investment, but if he buys shares in a consortium to execute the renovation, it is saving. The former is included when measuring GDP (in I), the latter is not. However, when the consortium conducted its own expenditure on renovation, that expenditure would be included in GDP.
If a hotel is a private home, spending for renovation would be measured as consumption, but if a government agency converts the hotel into an office for civil servants, the spending would be included in the public sector spending, or G.
If the renovation involves the purchase of a chandelier from abroad, that spending would be counted as C, G, or I (depending on whether a private individual, the government, or a business is doing the renovation), but then counted again as an import and subtracted from the GDP so that GDP counts only goods produced within the country.
If a domestic producer is paid to make the chandelier for a foreign hotel, the payment would not be counted as C, G, or I, but would be counted as an export.
A "production boundary" delimits what will be counted as GDP.
"One of the fundamental questions that must be addressed in preparing the national economic accounts is how to define the production boundary–that is, what parts of the myriad human activities are to be included in or excluded from the measure of the economic production."[12]
All output for market is at least in theory included within the boundary. Market output is defined as that which is sold for "economically significant" prices; economically significant prices are "prices which have a significant influence on the amounts producers are willing to supply and purchasers wish to buy."[13] An exception is that illegal goods and services are often excluded even if they are sold at economically significant prices (Australia and the United States exclude them).
This leaves non-market output. It is partly excluded and partly included. First, "natural processes without human involvement or direction" are excluded.[14] Also, there must be a person or institution that owns or is entitled to compensation for the product. An example of what is included and excluded by these criteria is given by the United States' national accounts agency: "the growth of trees in an uncultivated forest is not included in production, but the harvesting of the trees from that forest is included."[15]
Within the limits so far described, the boundary is further constricted by "functional considerations."[16] The Australian Bureau for Statistics explains this: "The national accounts are primarily constructed to assist governments and others to make market-based macroeconomic policy decisions, including analysis of markets and factors affecting market performance, such as inflation and unemployment." Consequently, production that is, according to them, "relatively independent and isolated from markets," or "difficult to value in an economically meaningful way" [i.e., difficult to put a price on] is excluded.[17] Thus excluded are services provided by people to members of their own families free of charge, such as child rearing, meal preparation, cleaning, transportation, entertainment of family members, emotional support, care of the elderly.[18] Most other production for own (or one's family's) use is also excluded, with two notable exceptions which are given in the list later in this section.
Non-market outputs that are included within the boundary are listed below. Since, by definition, they do not have a market price, the compilers of GDP must impute a value to them, usually either the cost of the goods and services used to produce them, or the value of a similar item that is sold on the market.
- Goods and services provided by governments and non-profit organizations free of charge or for economically insignificant prices are included. The value of these goods and services is estimated as equal to their cost of production. This ignores the consumer surplus generated by an efficient and effective government supplied infrastructure. For example, government-provided clean water confers substantial benefits above its cost. Ironically, lack of such infrastructure which would result in higher water prices (and probably higher hospital and medication expenditures) would be reflected as a higher GDP. This may also cause a bias that mistakenly favors inefficient privatizations since some of the consumer surplus from privatized entities' sale of goods and services are indeed reflected in GDP.[19]
- Goods and services produced for own-use by businesses are attempted to be included. An example of this kind of production would be a machine constructed by an engineering firm for use in its own plant.
- Renovations and upkeep by an individual to a home that she owns and occupies are included. The value of the upkeep is estimated as the rent that she could charge for the home if she did not occupy it herself. This is the largest item of production for own use by an individual (as opposed to a business) that the compilers include in GDP.[19] If the measure uses historical or book prices for real estate, this will grossly underestimate the value of the rent in real estate markets which have experienced significant price increases (or economies with general inflation). Furthermore, depreciation schedules for houses often accelerate the accounted depreciation relative to actual depreciation (a well-built house can be lived in for several hundred years – a very long time after it has been fully depreciated). In summary, this is likely to grossly underestimate the value of existing housing stock on consumers' actual consumption or income.
- Agricultural production for consumption by oneself or one's household is included.
- Services (such as chequeing-account maintenance and services to borrowers) provided by banks and other financial institutions without charge or for a fee that does not reflect their full value have a value imputed to them by the compilers and are included. The financial institutions provide these services by giving the customer a less advantageous interest rate than they would if the services were absent; the value imputed to these services by the compilers is the difference between the interest rate of the account with the services and the interest rate of a similar account that does not have the services. According to the United States Bureau for Economic Analysis, this is one of the largest imputed items in the GDP.[20]
GDP vs GNI
GDP can be contrasted with gross national product (GNP) or, as it is now known, gross national income (GNI). The difference is that GDP defines its scope according to location, while GNI defines its scope according to ownership. In a global context, world GDP and world GNI are, therefore, equivalent terms.
GDP is product produced within a country's borders; GNI is product produced by enterprises owned by a country's citizens. The two would be the same if all of the productive enterprises in a country were owned by its own citizens, and those citizens did not own productive enterprises in any other countries. In practice, however, foreign ownership makes GDP and GNI non-identical. Production within a country's borders, but by an enterprise owned by somebody outside the country, counts as part of its GDP but not its GNI; on the other hand, production by an enterprise located outside the country, but owned by one of its citizens, counts as part of its GNI but not its GDP.
For example, the GNI of the USA is the value of output produced by American-owned firms, regardless of where the firms are located. Similarly, if a country becomes increasingly in debt, and spends large amounts of income servicing this debt this will be reflected in a decreased GNI but not a decreased GDP. Similarly, if a country sells off its resources to entities outside their country this will also be reflected over time in decreased GNI, but not decreased GDP. This would make the use of GDP more attractive for politicians in countries with increasing national debt and decreasing assets.
Gross national income (GNI) equals GDP plus income receipts from the rest of the world minus income payments to the rest of the world.[21]
In 1991, the United States switched from using GNP to using GDP as its primary measure of production.[22] The relationship between United States GDP and GNP is shown in table 1.7.5 of the National Income and Product Accounts.[23]
International standards
The international standard for measuring GDP is contained in the book System of National Accounts (1993), which was prepared by representatives of the International Monetary Fund, European Union, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations and World Bank. The publication is normally referred to as SNA93 to distinguish it from the previous edition published in 1968 (called SNA68) [24]
SNA93 provides a set of rules and procedures for the measurement of national accounts. The standards are designed to be flexible, to allow for differences in local statistical needs and conditions.
|This section requires expansion. (August 2009)
National measurement
Within each country GDP is normally measured by a national government statistical agency, as private sector organizations normally do not have access to the information required (especially information on expenditure and production by governments).
Interest rates
Net interest expense is a transfer payment in all sectors except the financial sector. Net interest expenses in the financial sector are seen as production and value added and are added to GDP.
Nominal GDP and adjustments to GDP
The raw GDP figure as given by the equations above is called the nominal, historical, or current, GDP. When one compares GDP figures from one year to another, it is desirable to compensate for changes in the value of money – i.e., for the effects of inflation or deflation. To make it more meaningful for year-to-year comparisons, it may be multiplied by the ratio between the value of money in the year the GDP was measured and the value of money in a base year.
For example, suppose a country's GDP in 1990 was $100 million and its GDP in 2000 was $300 million. Suppose also that inflation had halved the value of its currency over that period. To meaningfully compare its GDP in 2000 to its GDP in 1990, we could multiply the GDP in 2000 by one-half, to make it relative to 1990 as a base year. The result would be that the GDP in 2000 equals $300 million × one-half = $150 million, in 1990 monetary terms. We would see that the country's GDP had realistically increased 50 percent over that period, not 200 percent, as it might appear from the raw GDP data. The GDP adjusted for changes in money value in this way is called the real, or constant, GDP.
The factor used to convert GDP from current to constant values in this way is called the GDP deflator. Unlike consumer price index, which measures inflation or deflation in the price of household consumer goods, the GDP deflator measures changes in the prices of all domestically produced goods and services in an economy including investment goods and government services, as well as household consumption goods.[25]
Constant-GDP figures allow us to calculate a GDP growth rate, which indicates how much a country's production has increased (or decreased, if the growth rate is negative) compared to the previous year.
- Real GDP growth rate for year n = [(Real GDP in year n) − (Real GDP in year n − 1)] / (Real GDP in year n − 1)
Another thing that it may be desirable to account for is population growth. If a country's GDP doubled over a certain period, but its population tripled, the increase in GDP may not mean that the standard of living increased for the country's residents; the average person in the country is producing less than they were before. Per-capita GDP is a measure to account for population growth.
Cross-border comparison and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
The level of GDP in different countries may be compared by converting their value in national currency according to either the current currency exchange rate, or the purchasing power parity exchange rate.
- Current currency exchange rate is the exchange rate in the international foreign exchange market.
- Purchasing power parity exchange rate is the exchange rate based on the purchasing power parity (PPP) of a currency relative to a selected standard (usually the United States dollar). This is a comparative (and theoretical) exchange rate, the only way to directly realize this rate is to sell an entire CPI basket in one country, convert the cash at the currency market rate & then rebuy that same basket of goods in the other country (with the converted cash). Going from country to country, the distribution of prices within the basket will vary; typically, non-tradable purchases will consume a greater proportion of the basket's total cost in the higher GDP country, per the Balassa-Samuelson effect.
The ranking of countries may differ significantly based on which method is used.
- The current exchange rate method converts the value of goods and services using global currency exchange rates. The method can offer better indications of a country's international purchasing power. For instance, if 10% of GDP is being spent on buying hi-tech foreign arms, the number of weapons purchased is entirely governed by current exchange rates, since arms are a traded product bought on the international market. There is no meaningful 'local' price distinct from the international price for high technology goods.
- The purchasing power parity method accounts for the relative effective domestic purchasing power of the average producer or consumer within an economy. The method can provide a better indicator of the living standards especially of less developed countries, because it compensates for the weakness of local currencies in the international markets. It also offers better indication of total national wealth. For example, India ranks 10th by nominal GDP, but 3rd by PPP. The PPP method of GDP conversion is more relevant to non-traded goods and services. In the above example if hi-tech weapons are to be produced internally their amount will be governed by GDP(PPP) rather than nominal GDP.
There is a clear pattern of the purchasing power parity method decreasing the disparity in GDP between high and low income (GDP) countries, as compared to the current exchange rate method. This finding is called the Penn effect.
For more information, see Measures of national income and output.
Per unit GDP
GDP is an aggregate figure that does not consider differing sizes of nations. Therefore GDP can be stated as GDP per capita (per person) in which total GDP is divided by the resident population on a given date, GDP per citizen where total GDP is divided by the numbers of citizens residing in the country on a given date, and less commonly GDP per unit of a resource input, such as GDP per GJ of energy or Gross domestic product per barrel. GDP per citizen in the above case is similar to GDP per capita in most nations. However, in nations with very high proportions of temporary foreign workers like in Persian Gulf nations, the two figures can be vastly different.
|23px United States of America
|23x15px United Kingdom
Source:Helgi Library,[26] World Bank
Standard of living and GDP: Wealth distribution and Externalities
GDP per capita is often used as an indicator of living standards.[27] Notably on the rationale that all citizens would benefit from their country's increased economic production as it leads to an increase in consumption opportunities which in turn increases the standard of living.[28] Similarly, GDP per capita is not a measure of personal income. In fact GDP may increase while real incomes for the majority decline.
The major advantage of GDP per capita as an indicator of standard of living is that it is measured frequently, widely, and consistently. It is measured frequently in that most countries provide information on GDP on a quarterly basis, allowing trends to be seen quickly. It is measured widely in that some measure of GDP is available for almost every country in the world, allowing inter-country comparisons. It is measured consistently in that the technical definition of GDP is relatively consistent among countries.
GDP is a neutral measure which merely shows an economy's general ability to pay for externalities such as social and environmental concerns.[29] In essence it is intended to be a measure of total national economic activity — a separate concept. As a consequence GDP not does include several factors that influence the standard of living. In particular, it fails to account for:
- Wealth distribution – GDP does not account for variances in incomes of various demographic groups. See income inequality metrics for discussion of a variety of inequality-based economic measures.[30]
- Non-market transactions–GDP excludes activities that are not provided through the market, such as household production and volunteer or unpaid services. As a result, GDP is understated. The work of New Zealand economist Marilyn Waring has highlighted that if a concerted attempt to factor in unpaid work were made, then it would in part undo the injustices of unpaid (and in some cases, slave) labour, and also provide the political transparency and accountability necessary for democracy.
- Underground economy– official GDP estimates may not take into account the underground economy, in which transactions contributing to production, such as illegal trade and tax-avoiding activities, are unreported, causing GDP to be underestimated.[30]
- Asset value– GDP does not take into account the value of all assets in an economy. This is akin to ignoring a company's balance sheet, and judging it solely on the basis of its income statement.
- Non-monetary economy– GDP omits economies where no money comes into play at all, resulting in inaccurate or abnormally low GDP figures. For example, in countries with major business transactions occurring informally, portions of local economy are not easily registered. Bartering may be more prominent than the use of money, even extending to services.[30]
- GDP also ignores subsistence production.
- Quality improvements and inclusion of new products– by not adjusting for quality improvements and new products, GDP understates true economic growth. For instance, although computers today are less expensive and more powerful than computers from the past, GDP treats them as the same products by only accounting for the monetary value. The introduction of new products is also difficult to measure accurately and is not reflected in GDP despite the fact that it may increase the standard of living. For example, even the richest person in 1900 could not purchase standard products, such as antibiotics and cell phones, that an average consumer can buy today, since such modern conveniences did not exist then.
- What is being produced– GDP counts work that produces no net change or that results from repairing harm. For example, rebuilding after a natural disaster or war may produce a considerable amount of economic activity and thus boost GDP. The economic value of health care is another classic example—it may raise GDP if many people are sick and they are receiving expensive treatment, but it is not a desirable situation. Alternative economic estimates, such as the standard of living or discretionary income per capita try to measure the human utility of economic activity. See uneconomic growth.[30]
- Sustainability of growth– GDP is a measurement of economic historic activity and is not necessarily a projection. A country may achieve a temporarily high GDP from use of natural resources or by misallocating investment.
- Nominal GDP does not measure variations in purchasing power or costs of living by area, so when the GDP figure is deflated over time, GDP growth can vary greatly depending on the basket of goods used and the relative proportions used to deflate the GDP figure.
- Cross-border comparisons of GDP can be inaccurate as they do not take into account local differences in the quality of goods, even when adjusted for purchasing power parity. This type of adjustment to an exchange rate is controversial because of the difficulties of finding comparable baskets of goods to compare purchasing power across countries. For instance, people in country A may consume the same number of locally produced apples as in country B, but apples in country A are of a more tasty variety. This difference in material well being will not show up in GDP statistics. This is especially true for goods that are not traded globally, such as houses.
- Externalities – Economic growth usually entails an increase in negative externalities that cannot directly be measured by GDP[28][30]
It can be argued that GDP per capita as an indicator standard of living can be proven through these factors:[27][31]
- More goods and services are available to consumers
- Consumers are in a better position to buy goods.
- Productivity correlates with standard of living, and GDP per capita takes this into account.
- People who live in countries with higher real GDP per capita tend to be more educated and live longer.
- Goods and services are a key element of economic well-being.
GDP per capita as a standard of living is a continued usage because of that fact that people have a fairly accurate idea of what it is and that it is tough to come up with quantitative measures for things like wellbeing, quality of life, and happiness.[27]
In conclusion, the argument for using GDP as a standard-of-living proxy is not that it is a good indicator of the absolute level of standard of living, but that living standards tend to move with per-capita GDP, so that changes in living standards are readily detected through changes in GDP.
Limitations and criticisms
|This section requires expansion. (February 2012)
The valuable capacity of the human mind to simplify a complex situation in a compact characterization becomes dangerous when not controlled in terms of definitely stated criteria. With quantitative measurements especially, the definiteness of the result suggests, often misleadingly, a precision and simplicity in the outlines of the object measured. Measurements of national income are subject to this type of illusion and resulting abuse, especially since they deal with matters that are the center of conflict of opposing social groups where the effectiveness of an argument is often contingent upon oversimplification. [...]
All these qualifications upon estimates of national income as an index of productivity are just as important when income measurements are interpreted from the point of view of economic welfare. But in the latter case additional difficulties will be suggested to anyone who wants to penetrate below the surface of total figures and market values. Economic welfare cannot be adequately measured unless the personal distribution of income is known. And no income measurement undertakes to estimate the reverse side of income, that is, the intensity and unpleasantness of effort going into the earning of income. The welfare of a nation can, therefore, scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income as defined above.In 1962, Kuznets stated:[32]
Distinctions must be kept in mind between quantity and quality of growth, between costs and returns, and between the short and long run. Goals for more growth should specify more growth of what and for what.
Austrian School economist Frank Shostak has argued that GDP is an empty abstraction devoid of any link to the real world, and, therefore, has little or no value in economic analysis. Says Shostak:[33]
The GDP framework cannot tell us whether final goods and services that were produced during a particular period of time are a reflection of real wealth expansion, or a reflection of capital consumption. For instance, if a government embarks on the building of a pyramid, which adds absolutely nothing to the well-being of individuals, the GDP framework will regard this as economic growth. In reality, however, the building of the pyramid will divert real funding from wealth-generating activities, thereby stifling the production of wealth.
So what are we to make out of the periodical pronouncements that the economy, as depicted by real GDP, grew by a particular percentage? All we can say is that this percentage has nothing to do with real economic growth and that it most likely mirrors the pace of monetary pumping. We can thus conclude that the GDP framework is an empty abstraction devoid of any link to the real world.
The UK's Natural Capital Committee highlighted the shortcomings of GDP in its advice to the UK Government in 2013, pointing out that GDP "focusses on flows, not stocks. As a result an economy can run down its assets yet, at the same time, record high levels of GDP growth, until a point is reached where the depleted assets act as a check on future growth". They then went on to say that "it is apparent that the recorded GDP growth rate overstates the sustainable growth rate. Broader measures of wellbeing and wealth are needed for this and there is a danger that short-term decisions based solely on what is currently measured by national accounts may prove to be costly in the long-term".
Many environmentalists argue that GDP is a poor measure of social progress because it does not take into account harm to the environment.[34][35]
In 1989 Herman Daly and John B. Cobb developed the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), which they proposed as a more valid measure of socio-economic progress, by taking into account various other factors such as consumption of non-renewable resources and degradation of the environment.
India and China have the largest population in the world and hence has the greatest potential in productivity due to the fact that the value of a product is measured as the value of service that can be obtained by the holder in exchange for that product. ( Units per man hour)
Lists of countries by their GDP
- Lists of countries by GDP
- List of countries by GDP (nominal), (per capita)
- List of continents by GDP (nominal)
- List of countries by GDP (PPP), (per capita), (per hour)
- List of countries by GDP (real) growth rate, (per capita)
- List of countries by GDP sector composition
- List of countries by future GDP estimates (PPP), (per capita), (nominal)
List of other approaches to the measurement of (economic) progress
- Human development index (HDI) – up until 2009 report HDI used GDP as a part of its calculation and then factors in indicators of life expectancy and education levels. In 2010 the GDP component has been replaced with GNI.
- Genuine progress indicator (GPI) or Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW) – The GPI and the ISEW attempt to address many of the above criticisms by taking the same raw information supplied for GDP and then adjust for income distribution, add for the value of household and volunteer work, and subtract for crime and pollution.
- European Quality of Life Survey – The survey, first published in 2005, assessed quality of life across European countries through a series of questions on overall subjective life satisfaction, satisfaction with different aspects of life, and sets of questions used to calculate deficits of time, loving, being and having.[36]
- Gross national happiness – The Centre for Bhutanese Studies in Bhutan is working on a complex set of subjective and objective indicators to measure 'national happiness' in various domains (living standards, health, education, eco-system diversity and resilience, cultural vitality and diversity, time use and balance, good governance, community vitality and psychological well-being). This set of indicators would be used to assess progress towards gross national happiness, which they have already identified as being the nation's priority, above GDP.
- Happy Planet Index – The happy planet index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact, introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in 2006. It measures the environmental efficiency with which human well-being is achieved within a given country or group. Human well-being is defined in terms of subjective life satisfaction and life expectancy while environmental impact is defined by the Ecological Footprint.
- OECD Better Life Index - The better lives compendium of indicators produced in 2011 reflects some 10 years by the organisation to develop a wider of set of indicators more closely attuned to the measurement of wellbeing or welfare outcomes. There is felt to be considerable convergence (in 2011) in high income countries about the kinds of dimensions that should be included in such multi-dimensional approaches to welfare measurement - see for instance the capabilities measurement research project capabilities approach.
- Composite Wealth Indicators – Namely yearly material wealth (an amended version of GNI to include depletion of natural resources and the costs of pollution), biological wealth (measured through life expectancy) and thus expected material wealth (or physical wealth), a linear combination of biological and yearly material wealth (the amount of material wealth expected to be produced by an individual during his/her lifetime).[37]
- Future Orientation Index - Tobias Preis et al. used Google Trends data to demonstrate that Internet users from countries with a higher per capita gross domestic product (GDP) are more likely to search for information about the future than information about the past. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, suggest there may be a link between online behaviour and real-world economic indicators.[38][39][40] The authors of the study examined Google search queries made by Internet users in 45 different countries in 2010 and calculated the ratio of the volume of searches for the coming year ('2011') to the volume of searches for the previous year ('2009'), which they call the 'future orientation index'.[41] They compared the future orientation index to the per capita GDP of each country and found a strong tendency for countries in which Google users enquire more about the future to exhibit a higher GDP. The results hint that there may potentially be a relationship between the economic success of a country and the information-seeking behaviour of its citizens online.
- World Governance Index - Basing their work on the United Nations Millennium Declaration, which was the subject of unprecedented U.N. consensus among the heads of state and government who adopted it in 2000, a team of researchers of the Forum for a new World Governance (FnWG) focused its research on the five main concepts defining the application framework of world governance and constituting key goals to be reached by 2015: Peace and Security; Democracy and Rule of Law; Human Rights and Participation; Sustainable Development and Human Development
- Social Progress Index - measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. Fifty-two indicators in the areas of basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity show the relative performance of nations. The index uses outcome measures when there is sufficient data available or the closest possible proxies.
See also
Notes and references
- ^ "GDP (Official Exchange Rate)". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
- ^ a b c "OECD". Retrieved 14 August 2014.
- ^ Dawson, Graham (2006). Economics and Economic Chenge. FT / Prentice Hall. p. 205. ISBN 9780273693512.
- ^ a b Congress commissioned Kuznets to create a system that would measure the nation's productivity in order to better understand how to tackle the Great Depression.Simon Kuznets, 1934. "National Income, 1929–1932". 73rd US Congress, 2d session, Senate document no. 124, page 5-7 Simon Kuznets, 1934. "National Income, 1929–1932". 73rd US Congress, 2d session, Senate document no. 124, page 5-7 Simon Kuznets, 1934. "National Income, 1929–1932". 73rd US Congress, 2d session, Senate document no. 124, page 5-7. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/scribd/?title_id=971&filepath=/docs/publications/natincome_1934/19340104_nationalinc.pdf
- ^ Dickinson, Elizabeth. "GDP: a brief history". ForeignPolicy.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ^ Coyle, Diane (2014). GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History. Princeton University Press. p. 6. ISBN 9780691156798.
- ^ World Bank, Statistical Manual >> National Accounts >> GDP–final output, retrieved October 2009.
"User's guide: Background information on GDP and GDP deflator". HM Treasury.
"Measuring the Economy: A Primer on GDP and the National Income and Product Accounts" (PDF). Bureau of Economic Analysis.
- ^ Based on the IMF figures. If no number was available for a country from IMF, CIA figures were used.
- ^ United States Bureau of Economic Analysis, A guide to the National Income and Product Accounts of the United States PDF, page 5; retrieved November 2009. Another term, "business current transfer payments", may be added. Also, the document indicates that the capital consumption adjustment (CCAdj) and the inventory valuation adjustment (IVA) are applied to the proprietor's income and corporate profits terms; and CCAdj is applied to rental income.
- ^ Thayer Watkins, San José State University Department of Economics, "Gross Domestic Product from the Transactions Table for an Economy", commentary to first table, " Transactions Table for an Economy". (Page retrieved November 2009.)
- ^ Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, chap. 2.
- ^ BEA, Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, p 12.
- ^ Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2000, sections 3.5 and 4.15.
- ^ This and the following statement on entitlement to compensation are from Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2000, section 4.6.
- ^ Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, page 2-2.
- ^ Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, page 2-2.
- ^ Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2000, section 4.4.
- ^ Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, page 2-2; and Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2000, section 4.4.
- ^ a b Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, page 2-4.
- ^ Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts, page 2-5.
- ^ Lequiller, François; Derek Blades (2006). Understanding National Accounts. OECD. p. 18. ISBN 978-92-64-02566-0.
To convert GDP into GNI, it is necessary to add the income received by resident units from abroad and deduct the income created by production in the country but transferred to units residing abroad.
- ^ United States, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Glossary, "GDP". Retrieved November 2009.
- ^ "U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of Economic Analysis". Bea.gov. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
- ^ "National Accounts". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
- ^ HM Treasury, Background information on GDP and GDP deflator
Some of the complications involved in comparing national accounts from different years are explained in this World Bank document.
- ^ | http://helgilibrary.com/indicators/index/gdp-per-capita-current-usd GDP Per Capita (Current USD) | 2014-02-10
- ^ a b c "How Do We Measure Standard of Living?" (PDF). The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
- ^ a b Mankiw, N.G.; Taylor, M.P. (2011). Economics (2nd ed., revised ed.). Andover: Cengage Learning.
- ^ "Eric Zencey-G.D.P. R.I.P.". Nytimes.com. August 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b c d e "Macroeconomics - GDP and Welfare". Retrieved 2015-02-21.
- ^ "How Real GDP per Capita Affects the Standard of Living". Study.com.
- ^ Simon Kuznets. "How To Judge Quality". The New Republic, October 20, 1962
- ^ Frank Shostak. "What is up with the GDP?".
- ^ The Virtues of Ignoring GDP http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/Articles/The-virtues-of-ignoring-GDP
- ^ The Rise and Fall of G.D.P. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/magazine/16GDP-t.html?pagewanted=all
- ^ "First European Quality of Life Survey".
- ^ See Emanuele Felice, Neither dashboard nor 'mashup' indices: an empirical wealth approach as a pathway to a comprehensive measure of development, http://www.h-economica.uab.es/wps/2012_01.pdf
- ^ Tobias Preis, Helen Susannah Moat, H. Eugene Stanley and Steven R. Bishop (2012). "Quantifying the Advantage of Looking Forward". Scientific Reports 2: 350. PMC 3320057. PMID 22482034. doi:10.1038/srep00350.
- ^ Paul Marks (April 5, 2012). "Online searches for future linked to economic success". New Scientist. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
- ^ Casey Johnston (April 6, 2012). "Google Trends reveals clues about the mentality of richer nations". Ars Technica. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
- ^ Tobias Preis (2012-05-24). "Supplementary Information: The Future Orientation Index is available for download" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-05-24.
Further reading
- Coyle, Diane (2014). GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15679-8.
- Australian Bureau for Statistics, Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2000. Retrieved November 2009. In depth explanations of how GDP and other national accounts items are determined.
- United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Concepts and Methods of the United States National Income and Product Accounts PDF. Retrieved November 2009. In depth explanations of how GDP and other national accounts items are determined.
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gross domestic product.
|Wikiquote has quotations related to: Gross Domestic Product
- World GDP Chart (since 1960)
- OECD GDP chart
- Australian Bureau of Statistics Manual on GDP measurement
- GDP-indexed bonds
- World Development Indicators (WDI)
- UN Statistical Databases
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Official United States GDP data
- Historicalstatistics.org: Links to historical statistics on GDP for different countries and regions, maintained by the Department of Economic History at Stockholm University.
- Quandl - GDP by county - downloadable in CSV, Excel, JSON or XML
- Historical US GDP (yearly data), 1790–present, maintained by Samuel H. Williamson and Lawrence H. Officer, both professors of economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
- Historical US GDP (quarterly data), 1947–present
- Google – public data: GDP and Personal Income of the U.S. (annual): Nominal Gross Domestic Product
- The Maddison Project of the Groningen Growth and Development Centre at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. This project continues and extends the work of Angus Maddison in collating all the available, credible data estimating GDP for different countries around the world. This includes data for some countries for over 2,000 years back to 1 CE and for essentially all countries since 1950.
Articles and books
|Library resources about
Gross domestic product
- Gross Domestic Product: An Economy's All, International Monetary Fund.
- Stiglitz JE, Sen A, Fitoussi J-P. Mismeasuring our Lives: Why GDP Doesn't Add Up, New Press, New York, 2010
- What's wrong with the GDP?
- Limitations of GDP Statistics by Robert Schenk.
- Whether output and CPI inflation are mismeasured, by Nouriel Roubini and David Backus, in Lectures in Macroeconomics
- Rodney Edvinsson, Growth, Accumulation, Crisis: With New Macroeconomic Data for Sweden 1800–2000 PDF
- Clifford Cobb, Ted Halstead and Jonathan Rowe. "If the GDP is up, why is America down?" The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 276, no. 4, October 1995, pages 59–78
- Jerorn C.J.M. van den Bergh, "Abolishing GDP"
- GDP and GNI in OECD Observer No246-247, Dec 2004-Jan 2005
- Progress, what progress? in OECD Observer No272 March 2009
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text:
Also known as: Verdicchio and Marchigiano.
Characteristics: A delicate bouquet, high in acidity, medium in body, with a slightly bitter finish. Exhibits crisp, dry, almond, and fruit characteristics. Known for its straw yellow and subtle greenish hue.
Ageing: within two to three years after the vintage, if properly preserved. Wines from the Verdicchio di Matelica are thought to have good ageing potential.
Serving temperature: Serve at a temperature of 46º-54º F.
Food pairings: Fish dishes, fried and roasted seafood, vegetables, and olives.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Please contact us if you have any question:
Paul email@example.com
tado° UK launch
Munich, 29 October 2013 - Every year, when the days get shorter and the temperature outside starts to fall, the same discussion takes place in many households: how can we reduce heating costs and still keep the house nice and warm? Now the technology start-up tado° presents the answer to the rising cost of heating and a modern, environmentally friendly lifestyle for UK homes.
One third of the energy consumed around the world is used for heating or cooling buildings. The systems used for this are controlled by non-smart technology that has been outdated for decades. " Our number- one motivation for developing tado° was to tackle this issue and make a significant contribution to the energy transition ," says company founder Christian Deilmann. tado° is a completely new kind of smart heating control that not only to makes everyday life easier, it also makes the home more comfortable and enables customers to cut their heating costs by an average of 27%*.
Last November tado° brought its intelligent, smartphone-based heating control to market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Starting from the beginning of November tado° officially starts shipping its product to the UK. "We have adapted our mobile app and developed a new connector kit especially designed for UK homes," explains Christian Deilmann.
tado° is the first heating app that automatically adjusts to the residents' daily lives, which means it is kind to the bank balance as well as the environment. It's also incredibly convenient, because once it has been installed, the user can simply relax and let tado° do the work.
The tado° solution - what makes it so smart?
Whether going to work as usual or taking a spontaneous weekend break with the family - the tado° application on the residents' mobile phones detects when the last person has left the house, with no user action required. A signal is then sent to the heating system to turn down the temperature. As soon as one of the residents starts to head home, tado° reacts immediately and warms up the house to the desired temperature. It even takes sleeping times into account, reducing the temperature to a lower chosen setting. Since no two buildings are the same, tado° learns about all the significant properties of a home in just a few days. For instance, how quickly it cools down or how the sunshine influences the interior temperature. This information is used to develop control strategies that will get the house to the desired temperature in the most efficient way possible. These strategies can also make use of current weather forecasts. If the sun is going to shine the next day, tado° will automatically take this information into account and heat on a lower setting.
Why tado°?
Whether you have a regular schedule or not, whether you live in an old or a modern building, with your family or on your own - with tado° you are perfectly equipped for the upcoming heating season. With the help of tado°, everyone can easily make a contribution to climate protection. Founder Johannes Schwarz says: " We were not convinced by any of the solutions available on the market. We were looking for a solution that, in terms of design and function, fits in perfectly with people's lives - not the other way around ."
Using the tado° app on a smartphone or a computer, users can keep an eye on how tado° is working for them and how their energy usage is being optimized - even while on the move. With the direct cost comparison, users are just a finger-click away from viewing the day's approximated heating costs both with and without the intelligent tado° control. What's more, users can set their own priorities for their smart heating system. What comes first, bigger savings or more comfort? And if users want to take the wheel themselves, they can simply input a desired temperature manually - from anywhere in the world.
How does it work?
The sleek white tado° Box that comes with the order establishes a connection with the central heating. It can be installed by the customer in a few simple steps and is compatible with almost all boilers. "Using our intuitive online guide, tado° can be installed in less than half an hour. Currently 97 percent of our customers install tado° themselves and are delighted at how easy the process is," explains Christian Deilmann. There is also an option to book an extra installation service.
Price and availability
The tado° app can be downloaded for iOS and Android free of charge. The Connector Kit, which hooks the heating system up to the web is compatible with almost all heating systems, regardless of the manufacturer. The Connector Kit is available to buy with lifetime service from www.tado.com/gb/shop/ for £249 or to rent for £6.99 on a monthly contract. Flex customers who decide for the rental plan even enjoy a savings guarantee. "Anyone who hasn't cut their heating costs by at least £100 per year in the first year will have their rental payments for the last 12 months refunded," explains Leopold v. Bismarck, CMO of tado°.
High-resolution images are available here: https://www.tado.com/en/press
About tado°
Headquartered in Munich, tado°, the European market leader in intelligent home climate control solutions, was founded in 2011. tado° revolutionises the way energy is consumed at home. Through the use of a geo-aware app, tado° automatically adjusts the temperature based on the residents' locations, enabling households to significantly save on energy costs while reaching a higher level of comfort.
Press Contact
tado GmbH
Paul Hughes
Sapporobogen 6-8
80637 Munich
+44 203 6956392
*Beta test in winter 2011/2012 with German users. The end customers in the test made energy savings of 12-40% (compared to their heating behaviour before using tado°).


text:
Exile(redirected from Babylonian Captivity)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
EXILE, civil law. The: interdiction of all places except one in which the
party is forced to make his residence.
2. This punishment did not deprive the sufferer of his right of citizenship or of his property, unless the exile were perpetual, in which case confiscation not unfrequently was a part of the sentence. Exile was temporary or perpetual. Dig. 48, 22, 4; Code, 10, 59, 2. Exile differs from deportation, (q.v.) and relegation. (q.v.) Vide, 2 Lev. 191; Co. Litt. 133, a.


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text:
For the Non-Muslim readers, unfamiliar with Ramadan, I will give a quick introduction to one of the holiest Islamic occasions. I will keep it simple and would not go into the full religious details since I do not consider myself qualified in that sense. One thing I most certainly need to emphasize, that this post is indented to give a general idea about one of the five pillars of Islam (Fasting) and not as a religious lesson. There are many blogs out there written by people far more knowledgeable about the intricacies of religion and faith. They will certainly serve better in providing more precise guidelines. The five pillars of Islam are:
1. Al-Shahada (The Testimony of Faith) which is the declaration that there is none worthy of worship except Allah (God) and that Muhammad (PBUH) is His last messenger.
2. Al-Salat (Prayer) establishing of the five daily Prayers.
3. Al-Zakat (Almsgiving) which is generally 2.5% of the total savings for a rich person working in trade or industry, and 10% or 20% of the annual produce for agriculturists. This money or produce is distributed among the poor.
4. Al-Sawm (Fasting) during the month of Ramadan.
5. Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage to Mecca) this is done during the month of Zu al-Hijja, and is compulsory once in a lifetime for one who has the ability to do it. If the Muslim is in ill health or in debt, he or she is not required to perform Hajj.
Most Muslims around the world live, like everybody else, by the Gregorian calendar. However, all of their religious occasions use another calendar called the Hijri. This lunar calendar starts with the year Muhammad (PBUH) migrated from Mecca to Medina (Hijra = Migration). Currently we are in the year 1427 Hijri. There are 12 lunar months in the 354-day Hijri year. A lunar month is roughly 29.5 days and it is agreed that a lunar month is considered either 29 or 30 days, depending on actual observation of the moon. Be that as it may, the Hijri year makes one complete cycle every 33 solar years (being roughly 12 days shorter). This year, the 1st day of Ramadan fell on the 22nd or 23rd of September, so next year (2007) the 1st day of Ramadan will be around the 10th of September. Every lunar Islamic month has a name (Muharram, Safar, Rabi' I, Rabi' II, Jumada I, Jumada II, Rajab, Shaaban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zu al-Qi'dah and Zu al-Hijja).
The Quran was revealed to Muhammad (PBUH) during the month of Ramadan thus it became the holiest month for Muslims. The fundamental ritual of worship in Ramadan is fasting (abstaining from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset). During the day, a fasting Muslim would absolutely eat and drink nothing whatsoever. In addition to culinary deprivation, a Muslim should also abstain from sex during the same hours. Bad temper, foul language and other bad human ailments should be avoided altogether day or night. Immediately when the sun sets, it is Iftar (Dinner) time. Families would gather around the table and enjoy some of the best dishes and sweetened drinks reserved for this month. Even Muslims who drink alcohol will refrain from any intake during the entire month.
In the evenings, neighbors, friends and families socialize. It is also a period of reflection and worship and many followers will interrupt sleep with intervals of prayer and reading of the Quran. Before sunrise, the family will again gather around Sohour (a light meal) to eat and drink until the last possible moment in preparation for the next day ahead.
In the posts to follow I will try to project images from Ramadan in Tartous. Some of these are shared by all Muslims everywhere else. Others are unique to this small geographic area. I will try to describe some Ramadan dishes, folklore rituals and other small matters which make anyplace a home to its inhabitans.
Ramadan Karim (A Generous Ramadan) to each and every one of you.
"A man walking alone on a deserted beach, brandishing a lantern in his outstretched hand, might be a fool. But, for a ship that went astray on a stormy night, he might be the savior."
Monday, September 25, 2006
Ramadan 101
For the Non-Muslim readers, unfamiliar with Ramadan, I will give a quick introduction to one of the holiest Islamic occasions. I will keep it simple and would not go into the full religious details since I do not consider myself qualified in that sense. One thing I most certainly need to emphasize, that this post is indented to give a general idea about one of the five pillars of Islam (Fasting) and not as a religious lesson. There are many blogs out there written by people far more knowledgeable about the intricacies of religion and faith. They will certainly serve better in providing more precise guidelines. The five pillars of Islam are:
|What do you think?
22 comments:
- Karin said...
That is a great explanation of what Ramadan is all about! Thanks so much for teaching me a few things I had never heard about ... I'm always eager to learn!
I'm curious about the recipes and all the other events you announced in your post - I will very much enjoy to read about them!
Thanks Abufares for the simple and accurate explanation of Ramadan. The main thing I miss about Ramadan in Lebanon, (and across the Islamic world), is the socializing aspect. A family is almost always either invited by or invites other families for iftar. The whole month, you never feel alone!
Abu Abdo
- Unknown said...
Hi Karin
I'm glad my post was of a good use to you.
I will go over some of the daily things which make a Tartoussi Ramadan in the next few days.
Thank you for being here.
- Unknown said...
Habibi Abu Abdo
I hope that Ramadan is not that tough down under and that indeed you and your family are enjoying it with good company.
What makes Ramadan relatively easy is the togetherness of families, neighbors and friends. I hope that you are able in some way to enjoy this month even if only on weekends.
Thank you for dropping by.
Thank you Abu Fares for giving me the opportunity to learn about Islam and not only the month of Ramadan so simply and in a straight forward manner. You made it look simple. Or may be it was my own assumption that it is a very complicated religion.
- Unknown said...
Dear Anonymous
Thank you for your comment.
I was able to give such a simple image of Islam because it is inherently a very direct religion. No occult rituals, no secret mysteries, and most importantly, "No Middle Man".
- Ascribo said...
Thank you Abufares for your straightforward and lovely explanation about Ramadan. I felt like I'm learning about it for the first time.
I will be waiting for your description of local traditions in Ramadan, it's the first time in my life that I miss it. I feel happy though, that Ramadan is "inside me" this time, not outside...
Looking forward for your posts
- Shannon said...
As always, I learn much by reading your blog. I can't wait for your future posts. Ramadan Karim to you!
- Unknown said...
Hi Ascribo
I'm glad you liked my simple explanation.
As to waht you said about living Ramadan from the inside, it must be a wonderful feeling to have reached that stage. A little difficult fasting alone perhaps, but having it in your heart more than makes up for it.
- Unknown said...
Many Thanks Shannon.
What you said about learning something from my blog made me very happy.
If I can write and entertain you a little, while giving you some useful information then I have reached what I aspire in writing this blog of mine.
Thank you for your encouragment, now and always.
- Haider Droubi said...
abu fares,
mbarak syamak....
i know the weather in tartous now is just amazing ...and nothing better than a walk before sun set ...
wish i can be there now...
- Unknown said...
Hi Haider
Thank you for dropping by. The weather is indeed very nice. We had one rainy day last week. It washed away the summer heat and fall, the most beautiful season in Tartous, has officially started.
I, too, wish you could be here.
- Rami the Merciful said...
Ya Abufares,
First of all, Ramadan Mubarak to you and your entire family. I really wish I could've been visiting during this special time of the year, as there are many customs and traditions that only make their way out in a predominantly Muslim region.
As always, I love the descriptive nature of your new blog, and I hope that all readers, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, are able to inundate themselves with the aforementioned information provided to soak in the peculiarities associated with this unique celebration in Islam.
- Unknown said...
Hi Rami
So glad to hear from you.
You are welcome anytime, Ramadan or Shaaban... Whenever you're in this neck of the wood, drop by for Fatteh and more...
- Amy said...
I fasted the other eday - I'm not Muslim but many Muslims I know have asked me if I've ever done it even for a day. I hadn't - so I did it. Can I just say, it was really really hard. Really. I think when I've been in the Middle East I got so caught up with the Iftar afterwards and all the commotion during the night I didn't think about how hard the fasting is - I can't imagine doing it for a month - I'm very impressed.
Does it make you wish for night all day?
Hi Amy, at least you know how it feels to fast. As to being hard, my daughter is nine years old, and this is the second year she fasts?! We do not force her at all. What I am saying is that it is a matter of habit and being convinced with the idea, then it is not as hard.
Regards, Abu Abdo
- Unknown said...
Hi Abu Abdo
I miss you my friend.
I'm convinced with the idea of Ramadan 100%. But, I have to be honest. I find it tough indeed. Sure, we get used to it as the month trudges along, but different people have different tolerance levels. My younger daughter (11), has a much easier time than me.
Drop by again.
- Unknown said...
Hi Amy
Thank you for dropping by.
Fasting is not the same for everyone. For some it's just an easy stroll. For others it's an uphill climb all the way to sunset. For me, the first 2 or 3 days are real tough. But then, I settle in nicely and, kind of, go with the flow.
In all honesty, I do get tired during the day and my productivity level drops considerably. I have always been more of a night person, and I'm definitely so in Ramadan.
Again, I'm real happy you've been here.
Hi Abu Fares, I never really meant to say it is an easy "stroll in the park"!! About a week before Ramadan starts I always worry about how "hard" it is going to be, but somehow it just flows and goes along not as hard as I thought it would!!
Regards, Abu Abdo
- Unknown said...
You're right Abu Abdo
The first couple of days were really hard. Then it started getting easier as the body adjusts to the regimen.
Seyam Makboul Inshallah
not to nippick because I have been a naughty muslim myself but, mulsims drinking alcohol is not a muslim in the first place. However, I understand that all of us have our internal struggles.
- Unknown said...
Dear Inquisitive
Thank you for your late comment. However, I'm extremely glad to respond to such an "inquisitive" remark.
I don't suffer any guilt in my religious beliefs. I don't consider myself a naughty Muslim. Others may do, but not me. My practice might sound contradictory but it's all because I'm being judged by a self-righteous and unbending moral standard. I accept the presence and mentality of others who disagree with me and they have to accept mine. I don't judge them and the least I should expect in this day and age is the same courtesy.
I'll post about it soon.


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BEYOND THE RIDES: If you were to ask a hundred regular Disneyland Resort visitors about their favorite part of the parks, you'd probably get a few dozen attraction-based answers, at least twenty responses involving food, and then one really random, charming entry, like the third tombstone to the left in the Haunted Mansion's graveyard. But many people have a love for something that is everywhere in the park, all around. It's an element, though, that plays a quieter background role among the twinkly lights and thrill coasters. We're talking about the landscaping, the trees and the shrubs and, yep, the giant floral Mickey Mouse that greets visitors when they first walk in the front gate at Disneyland. That Mickey is one of the most noticeable parts of the landscaping scene, but think of all the many, many verdant things that line every attraction, and how each tree is themed to each land (fir trees around Frontier Land, ferns around Adventure Land). If this is indeed an area you adore, there's a tour for you, nature lover: Cultivating the Magic.
THREE TIMES WEEKLY: There's a tour on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday mornings -- 9 a.m. on the weekends, 10 a.m. on the weekday -- and it covers a wide swath of the park's plant scene. "Select attraction experiences" are part of the walk, and what is visited can change, so let's call this a fluid tour. No surprise there, since nature itself, the star of the walk, is ever-changing. You'll hear about the 260 acres of citrus groves that once covered the area, and how the team of crack horticulturists determines what goes where and why. There are literally millions of leaves and petals around the park, so this is a monumental job, but highly rewarding, too, we expect. Just try and picture Disneyland devoid of its trees and flowers. It completely changes, right? It's a fantasy built on outlandishness, yes, but nature is its earthy base.
The Cultivating the Magic Tour is $49. Oh, and you leave with not only a souvenir pin -- very DL -- but a seed packet as well.


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By Amy Lignor
When it comes to Georgia, there are many things—locations, historical sites, the fun citizens, and more—than cause Georgia to forever be on your mind, making the State slogan a complete and utter truth. When it comes to the hunting world, there is also a place set in the stunning Georgia scenery that caters to every hunter on the planet. And from now until March, quail hunters are escaping to Etowah Valley Preserve, one location in Georgia that suits them to a "T" and provides the perfect hunting guides to choose from.
Consisting of over 650+ acres, spread out in eight distinct hunting areas, Etowah Valley fulfills the wishes of hunters spanning all age ranges and abilities. Committed to preserving the family hunting tradition, the Preserve is also heralded for being able to provide a different hunting experience for every time you and your family visit.
A variety of hunts are offered so that you can truly enjoy an unforgettable day of bird hunting. Whether it be guided, self-guided, full or half-day hunts you're looking for, the list to pick from is long and varied.
When it comes to opting for a Flush Hunt, Etowah Valley provides guided and self-guided hunts for both half and full days. The guided Flush Hunts can be booked for one up to four hunters. There is a choice of 4 Pheasant, 8 Chukka or 12 Quail, and can be a Straight Shoot or Mixed Bag. Guided by one of their experienced dog handlers and his seasoned dog(s), you have a choice of hunting locations that offer a variety of cover and terrain.
If opting for a self-guided Flush Hunt, these are half-day excursions for hunters with their own dogs and are limited to one or two hunters. There is a 4 Pheasant, 8 Chukka or 12 Quail minimum per hunter; with extra birds available upon request for an additional fee. The Preserve will also provide dog kennels when your hunting pals are not out working. (Extra Bird Costs include: Pheasants $21.00 each; Chukka Partridge $10.50 each; Quail $7.00 each; Hungarian Partridge $14.00 each.)
Another hunting package offered is the British Hunt. Exclusively for pheasants, this is an adaptation of an authentic British style hunt where the pheasants are pressed to fly over the hunters and provide them with challenging shots. Completely unique, the hunt is laid out in a semicircle with 7 stations; 2 hunters at each station. There are 6 pheasants released per hunter and 10 to 12 released at each rotation. (A rotation being where you advance to a different station to your left so that each hunter rotates through all of the stations available.) Held every Saturday beginning in January, weather, and shooters permitting, you can experience the British Hunt through March 31st.
One extremely favorable hunt that is thoroughly enjoyed at the Preserve comes in the form of the Extreme Quail Hunt. A guided-only hunt with a maximum number of 4 hunters, the journey is all about the quail, no mixed bag, and are among the absolute best when the avid quail hunter is searching for their number one choice of game.
So waste no time sitting inside during the winter months. Merely get your gear together and take a trip so exciting, it will forever be on your mind.
Head to https://etowahvalleygamepreserve.com/ for a look at all that awaits you in Etowah Valley, Georgia.
Original Source; Sportsmans Lifestyle.com


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Taking chemotherapy directly to tumors
In addition, though, the IR team can perform a tumor-embolization procedure to also deliver chemotherapeutic drugs (mixed with an embolizing agent consisting of small spongelike particles) through the catheter into and around the tumor to more directly expose the tumor to these cancer-killing agents, and decrease the amount of drug circulated systemwide in the body. This transcatheter chemoembolization is a newer strategy that delivers a higher dose of chemotherapy to the cancerous tissue. Because further circulation to the area is blocked after the drug is delivered, the chemotherapy dwells at a higher concentration in the area of the tumor for a longer period of time. The tumor shrinks or, in some cases, dies, due to both the anti-tumor drug and the lack of blood supply. The technique produces fewer side effects, compared to standard chemotherapy, because anti-tumor drugs are trapped in and around the tumor rather than delivered to the whole body systemically.
Interventionalists most often use chemoembolization to treat cancer of the liver, although they can apply the procedure in other areas as well. Via the vessels of the liver (hepatic artery), the team injects chemotherapy into hepatic-tumor masses along with an embolizing agent.
This method of delivering cancer treatment directly to the tumor is effective in stopping or reversing tumor growth. Interventional teams use it mainly for cancers that have either started in or spread to the liver. Among these cancers are hepatoma (primary liver cancer) or liver cancers that have metastasized from colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanomas, or sarcomas. Chemoembolization is especially useful for patients who have primary hepatocellular carcinoma or tumors with rich blood circulation that are confined to the liver.
The treatment can:
• preserve liver function;
• relieve pain and other symptoms, thus contributing to quality of life;
• shrink tumors to smaller, lower-stage tumors, sometimes making a patient eligible for surgery;
• and, in some patients, especially those with hepatocellular carcinoma, improve survival.
For a chemoembolization procedure, the IR team will sedate the patient and use one or more forms of angiography to guide the procedure. Typically the team will insert the catheter into the femoral artery, through a small incision in the groin.
The IR team will usually follow up the procedure with additional angiography or other imaging to evaluate the positioning and results of the embolization. Most patients will remain for just one or two nights in the hospital after chemoembolization and will resume normal activities within a week. Pain, fever, and nausea within the first week after the procedure are normal side effects that can be addressed through medications.
The combination of chemotoxicity and blockage of blood flow is highly effective in reducing tumors. But it may take a weeks or months to fully determine whether the chemoembolization has achieved its aim of controlling symptoms, bleeding, or growth of the treated tumor. During this time, the patient will return for follow-up CT scanning, or sometimes MR imaging, to monitor this progress. Chemoembolization can be repeated to treat additional areas or to treat a recurrence of the cancer, and this type of therapy may be combined with other types of cancer treatment as well.


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It's all about balance in the land of baseball.
When told his team probably has the softest September schedule among NL Central contenders, Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa had the perfect response: "Do we?"
In this case, ignorance is more than bliss. It's crucial to one's sanity.
"It's there for us if we want it. It's there for us if we play well enough," Lou Piniella said Thursday night, when his Cubs beat Milwaukee 5-4 to stretch their division lead to a season-high 2 1/2 games. "It's fun. That's what you go to spring training for, what you posture for all summer long, to get to this point. And what you find out in September is if you're good enough."
Sure, it's tempting for Cubbieland denizens to look at a final-month schedule full of Pittsburghs, Cincinnatis, Houstons and Floridas and proclaim: "The Central is ours!"
Problem is, MLB powers-that-be actually expect the Cubs to earn the right to fly the "W" flag in center field each day.
That same annoying requirement killed the Cubs in 2004, when the North Side Heroes went into Sept. 25 with a 2 1/2-game wild-card lead over Houston and an "easy" closing schedule. While the Cubs wrapped their hands firmly around their throats and went 1-5 against the Mets and Reds -- teams that finished a combined 30 games under .500 -- the Astros swept the World Series-bound Cardinals and finished with seven straight victories.
So this time around, Cubbie fans shouldn't torture themselves. They shouldn't go through the schedule saying, "We should win that one ... and that one ... and that one."
Professional sports don't work that way -- especially baseball. Even brutally bad ballclubs win 40 percent of the time and even top teams lose that often. There are so many factors, from slumps that seem to come out of nowhere to weather to broken-bat bloopers to injuries.
The biggest factor: the opponent's starting pitcher. Although the Reds, Pirates and Astros are also-rans, they send the likes of Aaron Harang, Tom Gorzelanny and Roy Oswalt to the mound. For example, the Cardinals had to face Oswalt on Wednesday while the Cubs will miss the Houston ace this weekend.
And there are far too many unexplainables in baseball.
Asked Thursday why a club with Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez has trouble hitting left-handers, the best Piniella could offer was: "I don't know." Asked why a team with those three All-Stars plus Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd ranks 14th in the NL in homers, all Lou could do was shrug.
Matt Murton and Alfonso Soriano then won the game with sixth-inning homers off Brewers lefty Chris Capuano. Go figure.
Murton had become the Cubs' forgotten man, buried deep on Piniella's bench. Soriano -- the $136 million slugger who had struggled since coming off the disabled list -- had been booed by ever-supportive Cubbie fans just two innings earlier, when he struck out for the third time.
There are no givens in baseball, and isn't that one reason we love the game?
Sometimes, frustrated fans ask: "Don't these guys know how important these games are?"
Believe me, folks, they know. And that might be part of the problem. Baseball isn't football -- and Piniella isn't about to give Rockne-esque speeches designed to make frenzied players slap each other's shoulder pads and charge onto the field hootin' and hollerin'.
"They play once a week," Piniella said of football coaches. "If I gave speeches every day, people would be hiding in the bathroom."
Fact is, the Knute Rockne approach would be counterproductive in baseball. Ballplayers don't need to be psyched up; they need to relax. Every fifth Cubs game, Carlos Zambrano proves that.
Decades ago, George Carlin had a hilarious routine about the differences between football and baseball. Seriously, though, the big difference is that football is all about emotion while baseball is all about finding a balance.
That balance thing can be mighty difficult to locate in Cubbieland, where a 99-year slump has the natives restless.
"If you're winning, it's the best place in the world to be," DeRosa said. "If (not), you're as depressed as the fans. You search for that even keel, but right now it seems everything is either a peak or a valley."
So enjoy, folks. And go searching the schedule for future peaks and valleys at your own peril. If you choose to do otherwise, don't say you weren't warned.
Mike Nadel (firstname.lastname@example.com) is the Chicago sports columnist for GateHouse News Service. Read his blog, The Baldest Truth, at www.thebaldesttruth.com .


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Dartmouth's Cool Robot is literally cool
Nashua Telegraph
February 2, 2012
When you were in college, what sort of field work did you do? Tramping through the local woods for a biology lab is about as exotic as most of us got.
Then there are classes like the Dartmouth engineering group that flew to Summit Station on the Greenland ice over the summer to test "Cool Robot", an autonomous robot being designed to wander in Greenland, keeping an eye on magnetic particules in the atmosphere. (It's better to do this at the poles, but alot easier and cheaper to do it in Greenland.) An undergraduate class that gets to go to Greenland! Sigh ....
The biggest problem faced by the design, according to a report published in the winter issue of autonomous-systems magazine is staying mobile both on icy packed snow and in deep powder, surfaces that require different approaches. I have the same problem when I'm skiing.
Like most autonomous-vehicle/robot projects, Cool Robot seems an interesting exercise in balancing competing needs. Although come to think of it, almost everything in life is an interesting exercise in balancing competing needs.


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Heard Around the West
Let's get this straight: Was a unicorn behind the
wheel of a truck that crashed in Billings? A deputy
prosecutor told a judge that story in all seriousness, asking for a
high bond because he thought the driver had claimed a unicorn was
driving. But the prosecutor misunderstood a colleague's
e-mail using the term "unicorn defense" — legal
slang for a defendant blaming anybody but himself for an accident,
reports the Associated Press. In this case, the driver, Philip
Holliday Jr., told police that "an unnamed woman" was
driving when his truck hit a light pole. Holliday has serious
problems, said the county attorney, but hanging out with reckless
unicorns is not one of them.
It's no secret that riding
in the back of a pickup isn't safe, but it sure seems like
fun to dogs. They brace their four legs and stand proud,
noses sniffing air redolent of roadkill, and whenever a truck
corners, there's a little sideways slide to enjoy. Border
collies seem most at home traveling in the open air, maybe because
they get to sit on the very top of bales of hay. But for a
Democratic legislator in Colorado, dog abuse can be defined as
allowing unrestrained canines to ride in truck beds. Her bill to
ban the practice provoked a flurry of letters to several
newspapers, but then seemed to go nowhere fast. Meanwhile, in
Arizona, a bill banning children from truck beds — unless all
the seats in the cab are filled — also went down, and not for
the first time. Bills banning kids from truck beds have been
introduced in Arizona for more than 20 years, and each time
they've been defeated, reports AZCentral.com. We can see the
bumper sticker now: Truck Beds, The Last Bastion of Freedom.
you consult the handy little Idaho Legislative
Directory and call the number listed for the Legislative
Information Center, get ready for a surprise, says
NewWest.com. "You'll get a cheery female voice asking
you to consider what Jesus Christ has done on your behalf, and if
you're ready to meet God and other existential
questions." The headline on Jill Kuraitis' story offers
the right number by noting: "Jesus' phone number is not
332-1000." That inspired a reader to complain, "I gave
myself to Jesus, and now he never calls."
The Stardust
Hotel-Casino on the Las Vegas strip bit the dust in 10 seconds on
March 13, the 2:30 a.m. demolition timed to meet few
crowds and little traffic. It will be replaced by a $4 billion
5,300-room complex called Echelon. The Stardust was only
middle-aged — 48 — but that's ancient by Las
Vegas standards, reports the New York Times. The resort leaves at
least one mourner, 23-year-old Joel Rosales, whose Web site,
LeavingLV.net, pays tribute to such demolished properties,
including the Dunes, Hacienda, and the Sands. "I am
disappointed that we as a city have no sense of preserving our past
and heritage," he said, "no matter how tacky or
out-of-date it might be."
Commuters to
Seattle have it rough, and it's getting rougher.
That was never more obvious than this winter, when University of
Washington administrators found that snowplow operators
couldn't get in to do their jobs. "The next time snow
was forecast, the university put them up in hotels." The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer offered statistics that reveal the
conundrum: In 2006, "the typical Seattle family of four
earned $74,300 — about $30,000 less than the income needed to
afford the typical home sold that year." The result: Just 49
percent of the people who work in Seattle live in the city. The
bad-news story spurred dozens of on-line comments from people
bemoaning 110-mile commutes, salaries of under $34,000, and job
offerings that keep salaries at rock bottom while ratcheting up
requirements for education and experience. On the other hand, an
employer noted what happened when he advertised for the job of a
highly skilled "wireless radio engineer": There were no
applicants, while an opening for administrative assistant brought
in 90 applications. Skyrocketing housing prices, though, dominated
the discussion. One man said he and his working wife finally
realized they will never be able to afford to live in the city;
Seattle, he concluded, "is so rich it can afford to do away
with common sense."
When a biologist in a helicopter shot a moose with a tranquilizer dart, the animal failed to fall flat as expected. Instead, it charged the helicopter and forced it to the ground, in an area some 50 miles from Juneau that can boast of more moose than people. The pilot and biologist were unharmed, reports the AP. The defiant moose was less fortunate: It was slashed by the spinning tail rotor, and had to be killed.


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(The quote, at the first link, begins at about 3 minutes.)
Schabow is the guy with the YouTube series "Video a Day Until the Walker Recall," — which included a song called "The War Against Milwaukee and Madison — and who, on recall election night, emoted lengthily on camera
I think we were pretty nice to Schabow. Is "lambasted" fair? In the new video, he goes on to talk about the radio talk-show guy Charlie Sykes directing people to his video and some truly mean homophobic-style comments that he got because of that. Thanks for not connecting my blog to that kind of thing.
I don't know if Adam Schabow realizes it, but Althouse has been a gay-friendly blog since its inception in January 2004 and some of its most notable commenters over the years have been gay guys. (I don't think the lesbians like me so much — a political thing? — but there's been at least one great lesbian commenter.)
Schabow has a blog site here, but he's only got 2 posts, a week apart, and they simply contain his videos, which look like they are going to be weekly, so it's not really what I'd call a blog, not that I have an objection to videographers setting up an attractive blog shell to display their videos. The first video is the one at the first link in this post. The second one, which went up today is called "Vaginas, Shitty Job Numbers and Shitty Pet Owners"... so it seems he's moving on from his period of mourning the democracy that Scott Walker murdered.
Scroll to 10:20 to see Billy the Dog.