Question

The GDP for the United States is \(\$ 18,036\) billion and its current account balance is \(-\$ 484\) billion. What percent of GDP is the current account balance?

Short answer

The current account balance represents approximately \(2.68\%\) of the GDP for the United States.

Step-by-step solution

Write down the given values

The GDP for the United States is given as \(18,036\) billion, and its current account balance is given as \(-484\) billion.

Calculate the absolute value of the current account balance

Since we're looking for the percentage of the GDP that the current account balance represents, we should use the absolute value of the current account balance. In this case, the absolute value of \(-484\) billion is \(484\) billion.

Divide the absolute value of the current account balance by the GDP

Now, we need to divide the absolute value of the current account balance (\(484\) billion) by the GDP (\(18,036\) billion). This can be written as: \(\frac{484}{18,036}\)

Multiply the result by 100

To find the percentage, we need to multiply the result from Step 3 by 100. This can be written as: \(\frac{484}{18,036} \times 100\)

Calculate the percentage

Now, perform the calculation: \(\frac{484}{18,036} \times 100 \approx 2.68\)

Interpret the result

The current account balance represents approximately \(2.68\%\) of the GDP for the United States.