O PIB é uma medida do novo valor criado no sistema. É uma magnitude de fluxo . Essa afirmação deve transmitir a noção de que ela adiciona algo novo a outra coisa que já existe, ou seja, a um estoque de valores já presentes . Quando o PIB cresce, a economia está expandindo seu estoque de valor.
' Valor ', por assim dizer, é composto de duas partes constituintes; existe uma parte relacionada ao preço e outra relacionada à quantidade . Observe também que o valor deve ser tratado como uma forma plural, no sentido de que existem muitas coisas de valor; a soma desses valores é o que constitui o valor total disponível em um determinado momento, para uma dada economia.
Tratar o PIB como uma soma de valores, permite decompor a mudança em sua magnitude:
ΔY=ΔY1+ΔY2+...+ΔYn
YYii
Yi
ΔY=(ΔP1Q1+P1ΔQ1+ΔP1ΔQ1)+...+(ΔPnQn+PnΔQn+ΔPnΔQn)
YiΔPi>0ΔQiΔPi>0ΔQi>0
ΔPi>0ΔQi=0ΔPi=0ΔQi>0
Há algumas coisas a serem observadas neste simples exercício contábil. O primeiro tem a ver com os sinais das mudanças que estamos considerando até agora. Embora tenhamos falado sobre mudanças positivas no componente preço ou no componente quantidade, não há realmente nenhuma razão para não considerar o caso em que essas mudanças são realmente negativas .
Uma mudança negativa na parte do preço é equivalente a avaliar o mesma quantidade (assumindoΔ QEu= 0) do componente Eupor menos . Da mesma forma, quando a quantidade de componenteEu gotas (assumindo Δ PEu= 0), há menos mercadoria ou serviço realEudisponível - nesse sentido, a economia é mais pobre em termos reais . No primeiro caso, a economia era simplesmente mais barata na medida em queEu componente estava em causa.
Outra coisa a considerar, com relação à exposição até agora, é que o que acontece com o valor do componente Eu(aumenta, diminui ou permanece o mesmo) não está desconectado do que acontece com o restante dos componentes do PIB . Isso significa que frequentemente (mas nem sempre) ocorre que mudanças positivas ou negativas nos componentes de preço ou quantidade de algumas partes do PIB são acompanhadas por movimentos semelhantes no valor da maioria dos outros componentes do PIB.
Efetivamente, isso significa que as mudanças no PIB (ΔY) are not happening because a few components suddenly jumped/dropped in price or quantity terms (ΔPi>0 and/or ΔQi>0 for few i's) at the same time. Persistent changes in GDP are due to persistent changes in most, if not all, the constituent components.
One more thing to consider is the fact that, most of the time, the parts that change are neither prices nor quantities in isolation but both of them in tandem. That poses the very real problem of distinguishing which part of the newly created value (GDP) is due to the economy having more of some commodities or services (ΔQi>0 for some i's) and which part is due to price changes (ΔPj>0 for some j's). Note that in all likelihood some of the i's and j are the same. It is because of this eventuality that we make the distinction between real and nominal GDP. Real growth is related to increases in the available quantities of commodities and services while nominal growth might be underlined by inflationary pressures.
A final point to consider is that ΔY ie the change in the value of GDP can come from another direction. Until now, we were considering the changes that were related to components Yi where i=1,2,...,n. Well, it so happens that n is not constant but changes with time.
For some periods of time the number of available commodities and services might be equal to n1 while for other periods the value of n may be equal to n2 and still other times it might be equal to n3. What is important to understand is that it could be the case that n1<n2<n3 but that is not necessary how they should rank. It is just the case that when n increases, the value of GDP increases also and vice-versa (obviously, there is a ceteris paribus clause of constant prices and quantities for all the 'old' commodities and services).
When GDP changes in that manner, the change can be attributed to the introduction of new commodities and services. Generally speaking, when talking about GDP growth, what is tacitly understood is that n=const. The introduction of new commodities and services is generally attributed to the effects of technological change.
'Technological change' in economics is an all encompassing notion that fuses scientific progress with managerial and organizational changes in the way-of-doing-business. In that sense, the change in GDP that is attributed to technological change (what is frequently dubbed total factor productivity increases) might be due to the introduction of new commodities or services or the introduction of a better way of doing business but it might also be attributed to relative price changes due to innovations that conserve on (relatively) scarce productive resources.
Innovations that change relative prices effectively act upon the cost structure of some productive processes and if they are too disruptive they can also change the relative income distribution of the affected factors of production. These effects mean that innovations might lower the price component of (some) Yi's but it is not clear what will happen to the quantity component of those
Yi's (we abstract from any substitution and/or complementary effects between Yi's).
Having covered all this ground, we can say that economies grow in real terms when, on average, modest price increases are accompanied by strong quantity increases. Also, these movements should be such for the majority of commodities and services. Additionally, growth can come in the form of changing the cost structure of available production processes without causing incommensurate income disruption or, ultimately, from the expansion of the number of available commodities and services.