engage in Ina s with the world outside your household. At the national level, we can make the same kinds of economic measurements of come, expenditure, deficit, and surplus, and these important indicators of eco- "mic performance are the subject of heated policy debate. For example, Table 12-1 "ows measures of U.S. national income and expenditure since 1991 in billions of U.S. dollars. At the national level, the income measure is called gross national disposable income; the expenditure measure is called gross national expenditure. The difference between the two is a key macroeconomic aggregate called the current account. Since posting a small surplus in 1991, the U.S. deficit on the current account (a nega- rive number) has grown much larger and at times it has approached $1 trillion per year, Although it fell markedly in the latest recession. That is, U.S. income has not been high TABLE 12-1 Income, Expenditure, and the Current Account The table shows data for the United States from 1990 to 2011 in billions of U.S. dollars. During this period, in all but one year U.S. expenditure exceeded income, with the U.S. current account in deficit. The last (small) surplus was in 1991. Income Gross National Disposable Income Expenditure Gross National Expenditure Difference Current Account 1990 $5,803 $5,878 1991 6,027 -$75 6,019 1992 6,330 8 6, 375 1993 -46 6,653 6,732 1994 7,063 -79 7,178 1995 115 7,400 7, 505 1996 -105 7,821 7,935 1997 -114 8,304 8, 434 1998 -129 8,751 8,955 1999 -205 9,324 9,616 2000 -292 9,923 10,334 2001 -410 10,266 10,657 -392 2002 10,618 11,070 2003 -452 11, 130 11,646 -51? 2004 11,847 12,472 1625 2005 12,605 13 , 346 -741 2006 13, 348 14, 147 -798 2007 14 , 742 -716 2008 14,026 14, 322 15, 001 -679 2009 14,362 -382 2010 13,980 15, 011 -449 2011 14, 562 15, 644 2012 15 , 178 466 15,771 16,245 -474 Source: U.S. National Income and Product Accounts, Tables 1.1.5 and 4.1, April 2013, bea.gov