Journal Article

Measuring real investment: trends in the United States and international comparisons

Abstract: The standard measures of nominal capital formation suggest that the proportion of GDP the United States is dedicating to investment has been much lower than that of other developed countries throughout the last 25 years. By calculating the measures in real terms across countries and over time, authors Milka S. Kirova and Robert E. Lipsey show that the U.S. investment ratios have been rising over time, coming increasingly closer to those of other countries. Using a broader measure of capital formation that is more consonant with economic concepts, they show that U.S. investment has been close to that of other countries since 1970 and was an above-average share of total output in the most recent period studies (1990-94). Their calculations indicate that, broadly defined, real capital formation per capita and per worker has been 30 to 60 percent higher in the United States than in the other countries studied.

Keywords: Investments;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Part of Series: Review

Publication Date: 1998

Issue: Jan

Pages: 3-18