Final answer:
The value of personal time spent on learning is not included in GDP. GDP includes market transactions like services provided by professionals and sales of new goods, but it excludes non-market transactions, personal time investments, gambling winnings, and sales of used goods.
Step-by-step explanation:
The value of the time spent learning how to prepare your personal income tax return would NOT be included in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounts. GDP measures the market value of all final goods and services produced in a country during a given period, including things like the payment for services from a mechanic or a certified nursing assistant, as well as new goods sold such as new cars. However, personal time spent on learning and non-market transactions, like caring provided by a family member for free, gambling winnings, or the sale of used goods, are not included in the GDP.
Some of the items that are included in GDP are:
- The value of the time a mechanic spends changing the battery of a customer's car
- The payment to a certified nursing assistant for caring for an aged relative in her home
- The sale of a new car
- The cost of hospital stays
- Child care provided by a licensed day care center (if paid for and reported as income)
Some of the items that are NOT included in GDP are:
- The value of the time spent learning how to prepare your personal income tax return
- The rise in life expectancy over time
- Child care provided by a grandmother (unless she is paid and reports the income)
- The sale of used goods like a used car
- The variety of goods (like cheese varieties) available in markets
- The iron that is an input into other goods like steel for a refrigerator (since it is an intermediate good)