If the word on the street during the late 1990s was that the
business cycle was dead, the lesson of the early 2000s is that
Economics Happens. So in the spirit of too little, too late, here is
a "big picture" overview of the entire U.S. economy.
Arrows indicate the direction of payments; solid arrows
are the components making up the Gross Domestic Product. Click on
any hot zone; a description will appear at the lower left of the
diagram.
The Gross
Domestic Product is the output of the U.S. economy,
measured by purchase price, and categorized by
purchaser:
(Click on the
green glossary links above for details.) These four categories are
represented by the four solid arrows in the diagram. The first three
really are direct purchases from producers. The last (the trade
deficit) is an adjustment factor to account for the difference
between "purchased in the U.S." (what the first three arrows
measure) and "made in the U.S." (what the GDP is really supposed to
be).