Japan+Announces+Emergency+Budget+for+Rebuilding-Nick

Article Name: =Japan Announces Emergency Budget for Rebuilding= Source: Times NY http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/world/asia/23japan.html?scp=1&sq=japan%20gdp&st=cse Date Written: April 22nd, 2011

Summary; This article is talking about what the Japanese government is going to do after the Earthquake. As shown in the Article name, the Japanese government has almost spent $50 billion in emergency building on Friday, and it is "country’s largest reconstruction effort since World War II." By using government spending, it means the GDP will increase based on the method GDP+C+G+I+(X-M). From the earthquake at least hundred thousands have been found dead,and "government estimates put the total damage from the quake and tsunami at $300 billion." The article also mentions that "It also is thought to have wiped out almost 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. In comparison, the death toll from the March 11 quake and tsunami is far lower, and the economic damage is likely to add up to just a few percent of G.D.P." This sentence is saying that yes although the government spending on reconstruction will help the GDP, but comparing to the damage the tsunami and earthquake have done, the GDP of Japan will fall no matter what.

Definition: GDP:Gross Domestic Product (measure of total products produced in the economy in a year) Economic Development: The standard of living of people in a country Economic Growth: A measure of country's development in terms of monetary value. GPI:Genuine Progress Indicator(GDP + non-monetary benefits - social costs)

Evaluation: I agree with what the author has mentioned. As we have learned, GDP takes account into all the money spending, so we want as many accidents and natural disasters to boost up the GDP, however if we think of other side effects, we might be wrong about the GDP going up. I think the GDP will go down because assuming Government Spending will increase based on the article, the consumption and investment will decrease because first the population has decreased and because of the disaster, people might not invest in the companies in Japan.Export and Import will also decrease people other countries will not want contaminated fish products and Japan needs to make sure its environment returns to where it is before the earthquake. By analysing each factor that contributes to the GDP, I believe the GDP will go down despite the help from the government spending. Although one might look into the economic growth, I personally like to look into economic development but that tells us the welfare of the people. For some people, money isn't everything. It is the utility that the country and the environment provide matters to them. Using GPI, the Genuine Process Indicator, it will truly tell us how the people in Japan are doing. If the HDI remains close after the earthquake, we can assume that Japan has done an excellent job in terms of providing care to the people.Overall, in the short run, the GDP might go down, but in the long run, Japan's GDP will slowly rise back. Not only will the GDP of Japan rise up, the GDP of other countries can also "benefit" from this because they are donating goods which will help increase the other countries' GDP as well. Hopefully, Japan's economy will recover by end of the year, considering China has already passed them and became 2nd in GDP.