Gross domestic product (GDP) is a major indicator of a nation's overall economic activity. It consists of personal consumption expenditures, gross domestic investment, net exports of goods and services, and government consumption expenditures. The file contains the GDP (in billions of current dollars) for the United States from 1980 to 2011. (Data extracted from Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, www.bea.gov.)
a. Plot the data.
b. Compute a linear trend forecasting equation and plot the trend line.
c. What are your forecasts for 2012 and 2013?
d. What conclusions can you reach concerning the trend in GDP?