Final answer:
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services produced in a country within a year, carefully calculated to avoid double counting. It represents the size and health of the economy, although changes in price levels can affect the nominal GDP without actual changes in productivity.
Step-by-step explanation:
A nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a specific time period, typically a year. Final goods are the products at the furthest stage of production at the year's end, and care is taken to avoid double counting, where the same product's value is counted more than once as it goes through different stages of production.
Calculating GDP involves measuring the quantities of all goods and services produced, multiplying them by their prices, and summing up the total. This means if prices rise but the level of output stays the same, the nominal GDP would still increase, just reflecting the change in price levels rather than actual productivity.
Therefore, the correct answer is B. The total value of the goods and services produced in the nation in a year. GDP is a measure of both productivity and the economic health of a country. It is meticulously calculated by statisticians and is essential for evaluating the size and health of an economy.