One of the ways that GDP

[4plexowner]

One of the ways that GDP numbers are manipulated is through aircraft sales.

Here is some research I did earlier this year:

Airplanes are expensive items with long lead times to procure / build.

At http://www.boeing.com/commercial/prices/ I learned that a Boeing jet costs between 45.5 million and 253 million dollars to purchase.

Many aircraft that are ordered are never built – the “…civil aircraft sales…” referred to below are zero-down contracts that can be cancelled.

I find all of this interesting from an accounting perspective. Imagine the challenge of manipulating the books for a $12 trillion dollar economy – these aircraft sales are just one of the tools in the toolkit.

The revised durable goods numbers (done with almost all the govt numbers – announce glowing number this month and then revise it down in the footnotes of next mont’s meeting) won’t get much if any media attention. Neither will the cancellation of the aircraft ‘sales’.

Durable goods orders in US beat forecasts
By Christopher Swann in Washington
Published: April 26 2006 17:59 | Last updated: April 26 2006 17:59

US durable goods orders surged by 6.1 per cent in March, more than three times faster than analysts had been expecting.

“The bulk of the rise in durable goods orders was due to a 14 per cent increase in transport orders, with civil aircraft sales climbing 71 per cent. Boeing reported bookings for 112 aircraft in March, up from 25 in February.

Excluding the volatile transport sector, orders rose by 2.8 per cent. Economists had expected a rise of just 1 per cent.”