Gross Domestic Product

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the first and the most important sign of economic health of a country. It shows the total value of all products and services which were produced in the country over a certain period of time. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore an article about GDP taking into account both national and global perspective.

The chosen article from Financial Times is called “Japanese GDP grows 1% in first quarter” (McLannahan 2012). The article focuses on the recent 1%-growth of Japanese GDP between January and March 2012 which is a positive change after being stable for three months. However, it is unlikely that Japan will increase the GDP level by 4.1% next year as it is predicted by experts.

Moreover, a slight increase of the country’s GDP can be explained with other reasons, not necessarily by the economy growth. A third part of the increase belongs to private consumptions; it is connected to reintroduction of incentives to purchase fuel-efficient cars by the government. Furthermore, a significant part of the increase is formed by public investment into reconstruction after the earthquake. Thus, when the boosts stop influencing the national economy, the GDP is most likely to go down.

Another important aspect is the reaction of the world economy to the change of Japanese GDP. Additionally, shutting down the nuclear power generator also can affect national, as well as international, industrial production and electricity supplies. This factor has to be considered by the experts when forecasting the trends of Japanese GDP and GDPs of other countries.  

Therefore, the information in this article explains the state of Japanese GDP and the reasons for its recent changes. The future tendencies have been evaluated; however, it is still unclear if Japanese GDP is going to increase next year as it was forecasted by the analysts.