Has your world been turned upside down by the latest GDP figures?
Yesterday, it was announced that GDP in the UK has increased by 0.2 per cent in the last quarter, the lowest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2010, when the economy officially emerged from the recession.
As expected, newspapers, economists and politicians have responded to this figure like it’s a syringe full of adrenaline. “If only you hadn’t pushed up VAT, we’d all be working four days a week and sipping Cristal at lunch,” I imagine one economist said.
I love the comedy that erupts whenever figures such as this are announced. But I can’t get over this niggling suspicion that, despite the apocalyptic rhetoric produced, they don’t mean very much at all.
Generally, the business week runs from Monday to Friday all year round. Purchasers buy things on each of those working days – not once a quarter. The state of the economy yesterday is pretty much the same as it was the day before that – and buyers don’t need a report to tell them.
The fact growth is slower than expected is disappointing, but it’s a fact. Stuff still needs to be bought, people still need to be paid and political grandstanding won’t make an iota of difference. If the UK economy is going to get back on track it will be because purchasers, manufacturers, accountants and a whole plethora of other professionals do their jobs with diligence and hard work.
So perhaps you could finish the following sentence for me in the comments section below. “In my opinion, the benefit of growth figures, confidence measures and other statistics is…”
![[Bloglines]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[Twitter]](http://blog.supplymanagement.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
“… it gives television pundits something to talk about on Newsnight”
… is to tell the man with wet ankles that his boat has sprung a leak”.
…that it provides a flavour as to how hungry the market may be to fight for our orders.
perhaps important to purchasers as it reflects the purchasing power of the entire economy, and if your a good planner you may strategically plan for the year
it enables journalists to earn a living.
“variable given a) their accuracy (usually not with ONS until several revisions) and b) timeliness – ONS figures look back over a quarter which finished several weeks ago, whereas CIPS/Markit PMI’s are considered to be much better by the Bank of England because they are immediate looks at the previous month and are much more accurate.”
@roy ayliffe, about the timeliness looking back over a quarter which finished several weeks ago,you have to look at the past even if its a week so that u can determine the future from the point of being informed. for example look at the financial statements of any given company they are ever past but they are used to make future decisions by the top management(fore casting)