How do I use current-dollar measures of economic activity, such as GDP?

Use current dollars when you want to show the size of economic activity or want to make comparisons of magnitude of output or spending at a point in time. Examples of the use of current-dollar estimates include:

• The U.S. economy produced $11.0 trillion dollars in goods and services in 2003. (These estimates may be found in table 3 of the GDP news release and in table 1.1.5 of the NIPA tables on BEA’s Web site.)
• Seventy percent of the goods and services produced by our economy are purchased by consumers. (These estimates may be found in table1.1.10 of the NIPA tables on BEA’s Web site.)
• In 2003, American consumers spent nearly as much for computers as they did for shoes. (These estimates may be found in table 2.4.5 of the NIPA tables on BEA’s Web site.)