If someone tells you “GDP grew 2.8% last quarter,” here are five questions you should immediately ask.
Is that real or nominal? Real GDP strips out inflation. Nominal includes it. The difference matters a lot when inflation is high.
Is it annualized or quarter over quarter? The US reports annualized rates. Europe tends to report quarter‑over‑quarter. A 2.8% annualized US number and a 0.4% QoQ European number can represent very similar growth.
What was the composition? Was growth driven by consumer spending, government spending, investment, or net exports? Each driver has different implications for sustainability.
What were the revisions? First GDP prints get revised at least twice, and the initial number is often noticeably different from the final.
How does it compare globally? US at 2.8% means something very different if Europe is at 0.9% versus 2.5%.
EconLens answers all five questions automatically when you ask about GDP. It pulls the live figure from FRED, compares it to World Bank global data, and breaks down the context.
econlens.app.