UNITTED STATES ECONOMIC SYSTEM

The economy of the United States is the largest national economy in the world in both actual dollars and by Purchasing Power Parity.[12] Its nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated as $14.4 trillion in 2008, which is about three times that of the world's second largest economy, Japan[1] Its GDP by PPP is almost twice that of the second largest, China.

The U.S. economy maintains a very high level of output per person (GDP per capita, $47,422 in 2008, ranked at around number ten in the world). The U.S. economy has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a low unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment funded by both national and, because of decreasing saving rates, increasingly by foreign investors. In 2008, consumer spending made seventy-two percent of the economic activity in the U.S.[13]

Since the 1970s, the United States economy has absorbed savings from the rest of the world. The phenomenon is subject to discussion among economists. Like other developed countries, the United States faces retiring baby boomers who have already begun withdrawing from their Social Security accounts; however, the American population is young and growing when compared to Europe or Japan. The 2008 estimates of the United States public debt by the CIA Factbook and the International Monetary Fund were 61% of GDP, about the same as major European countries.

The United States has been one of the best-performing developed countries, consistently outperforming European countries. The American labor market has attracted immigrants from all over the world and has one of the world's highest migration rates. Americans have the second highest income per hour worked.[ The United States is ranked second, down from first in 2008-2009 due to the economic crisis, in the Global Competitiveness Report.