GDP

The real dollar amount of GDP hides behind the spin. The BEA thinks we can not count and reports in percentages with lots of explanations. Today’s revision is upwards from 4.8% to 5.2% with only 1.7% for the quarter. Economists were looking for 5.8%rather than 5.2. The real GDP at the end of 2nd Q, that is January 1st amounts to $13.037 trillion. The National debt grew to 8.260 by May 23rd, up 7.2% over last year. Tax revenue grew this month to date by 11% and year to date by 7.2%, just to put things into perspective. The YTD tax collected by May 23rd grew to $1.33 trillion.

If reading the tea leaves tells us anything, it might say the market liquidity looks good for US enterprise and the market in general. In fact, liquidity seems to be growing faster than the GDP. One might further hazard the speculation that big big business contributes less to productivity than do small competitive businesses. (Current policy definitely favors the former.) The disruptive nature of technology, however, may tip the scales despite bureaucratic interference. The resulting resolution should lead to greater productivity and thus greater GDP. It’s the GDP that takes you out to dinner and pays for your dental work. We should pace China if we are to keep up. Their growth accelerates through 8%.