Macroeconomics › Section F · The macroeconomic perspective › Topic F.3
Tracking real GDP: booms and recessions
Real GDP climbs over the decades, but never in a straight line. Learning to read its ups and downs, from quarterly growth figures to recession dates and output gaps, shows how economists tell a healthy economy from one in trouble.
In this topic
- Reading the headline growth rate
- The long climb and the business cycle
- What counts as a recession
- Recessions the US remembers
- Why the swings matter
- Potential output and the output gap
- Worked example: annualising a quarter
- Worked example: a gap and Okun's law
- Signals of turning points
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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