The ultimate question for this week is: "Is GDP a good measure of national economic well being?"

Part of answering that question is a consideration of whether economic well being for the nation is the same as quality of life for the individual? If not, how would you measure quality of life for the individual?

Assignment Summary:

1. Review the concept and details of computing GDP ( GDP.pptx GDP.pptx - Alternative Formats )
2. Read the section in Chapter 23 in your textbook: "Is GDP a Good Measure of Economic Well-Being?" and the section "International Differences in GDP and Quality of Life"(pages 480-482).
3. Read the Quality of Life Index Article ( Quality of Life.pdf Quality of Life.pdf - Alternative Formats )
4. Watch the videos above and under the Week 2videos: watch videos 1 and 2 for a better understanding of GDP and video 5 for a discussion of how to measure well being (it is a live recording of a discussion group and, unfortunately, the audio is not always the best). For a detailed discussion of consumer spending, consumer savings and the CPI both current (December 27, 2013) and historic changes, watch the video from C-SPAN: Consumer Spending Habits.
5. You may want internet search for other well being measures such as the "happiness index" or the "economic freedom" index. These indexes will deepen your understanding of this week's topic.
6. Post your views to the discussion board and refer to at least two different concepts from this week's Chapters. Your illustration of concepts MUST include an explanation why you think they are relevant to the week's topic using specific information from the articles, videos and other research that you have done