any professions commonly use acronyms.
To doctors, accountants, and baseball players,
the letters MRI (magnetic resonance imaging),
GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles),
and ERA (earned run average), respectively, need no explanation.
To someone unfamiliar with these fields, however,
without an explanation these acronyms are a stumbling block
to a better understanding of the subject at hand.Economics
is no different. Economists use many acronyms.
One of the most common is GDP, which stands for
gross domestic product. It is often cited in newspapers, on
the television news, and in reports by governments, central
banks, and the business community. It has become widely
used as a reference point for the health of national and global
economies. When GDP is growing, especially if inflation is
not a problem, workers and businesses are generally better
off than when it is not.