Business Structures and Economic Indicators

This week in personal finance, we learned about business structures and economic indicators. To measure economic activity, one must measure the country's GDP. It is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a given period. To be included within a good or service, it must be a final good, be PRODUCED during the time period, and be produced within a NATION’s borders. We calculate GDP by the formula, C + I + G + X = GDP. C stands for consumption by consumers. I stands for investment by businesses. G stands for government spending. Lastly, X stands for net exports. GDP shows us how well a country's economy is doing. Other things that we must take into consideration are standard of living, the unemployment rate, the rate of inflation, the consumer price index, and the national debt. Another thing we learned this week was the business cycle. It consists of prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery. It is about how businesses thrive, slow down, have a downfall, and start to go back up again. We also learned about business structures. There are sole proprietorships, corporations, and partnerships. These different structures act in different ways and effect the way that businesses run all around the world. Overall, this week was very busy and we learned so many different things. We mostly got to understand how the economy runs and how we can calculate it. Overall, it was a very fun experience, especially, when we played the studying game.