COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
sustainable development". Through the Commerce Department, the federal government pursues many activities and policies for promoting prosperity, including making trade agreements with other countries to enable the export of American-made goods overseas. Vibrant commerce is critical to the economic health of a nation. Governments constantly strive to develop and maintain a high level of domestic commerce and to open foreign markets to their country’s exports. Data, data and more data… The federal government closely monitors all aspects of commerce. Every day, the Department of Commerce, and other government bureaus and agencies, collect and sort through loads data related to domestic and international commerce. Just some of the things the government tracks are the number of new home sales, how many construction projects have started, the availability of jobs, employment rates, factory orders, monthly retail sales for all kinds of products – electronics, food, clothing, cars, medical supplies, fuel, etc. The government also tracks personal income and spending, manufacturing statistics, shipments and inventories. How much is imported into the U.S. from other countries and exported from the U.S. overseas is tracked, measured, and compared to determine the trade balance , which is the difference in value between what a nation exports (sells to other countries) and what a nation imports (buys from other countries). Data about commerce is published in reports called economic indicators . These are used by government and private sector analysts to make economic forecasts about commerce and the economy, and make or adjust current policies or practices. The government also keeps a close eye on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total value of all goods and services produced within a country each year . GDP is often mentioned in the financial news because it is a key indicator of the economic health of the nation . Ideally, people should be busily working at jobs, producing all sorts of goods and services. Weak and economically unhealthy nations are not very productive. A falling GDP is a concern because it signals that the economy is not growing, which can cause businesses to fail and jobs to be lost. A GDP that is rising too quickly may be a sign of inflation, an upward trend in the price of goods and services . Inflation “inflates” the price of goods and services, which reduces the value of money . Experts like to see steady, even GDP growth with low unemployment and low inflation. The Almighty Consumer What is produced must be consumed. Products and services ultimately make their way to their final destination: the consumer . A consumer can be one person, like you, who buys a smoothie at the local juice shop, or gets a cut and color at a local salon, a business that buys a ream of paper for the office, or a large multinational corporation that purchases a service or product from another business. Consumers are generally considered to be the last stop for a product or service , hence the name consume-r . Consumers are an uber-important part of commerce. Commerce simply would not exist without consumers to spend money and “consume” the products and services of businesses. When consumers consume, commerce thrives. SLIDE 1K PRODUCT PREVIEW
8
Lesson 1 | Look Out, You’re Surrounded!
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker