Macroeconomic Fog

GDP revised. Yes, they’re still trying to figure out how much output the economy produced. And they’ll be doing that for decades to come.

What is Know The Difference Minute?

Hot topics, fresh stories and useful formation; all in 60 seconds

Macroeconomic Fog
Welcome to the Know the Difference Minute for Thursday, September 28th.
The government released revisions to gross domestic product numbers. The latest numbers were for the second quarter, which ended almost three months ago. Yes, they’re still trying to figure out how much output the economy produced. And they’ll be doing that for decades to come.
These numbers take a very long time to finalize and just when you think they’re final, they might not be. It would be like graduating from school and your first-grade teacher suddenly coming up and saying she revised the grade she gave you on your history test. How useful would that be in terms of feedback or guidance?
The revisions aren’t often large, but they can build over time. Trying to steer an economy, or a portfolio, based solely on macroeconomic data is like steering a car in the fog using the rearview mirror.
I’m Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management. That is your Know the Difference Minute