[bruinbirdman]

"However, at some point in time at least one of the above mentioned nations will match the US in GDP and perhaps even surpass us."

U.S.A. GDP = $13.84 trillion (2007 est.)

Red China GDP=$ 3.251 trillion (2007 est.)

India GDP....=$ 1.099 trillion (2007 est.)

The U.S. economy grows the GDP of India every year.

yitbos

[AmericanInTokyo]

I liked that, “Red” China, just now...

[trumandogz]

I am not saying the US economy will be eclipsed by India, China or Brasil next week but perhaps in the next century.

[Cronos]

The U.S. economy grows the GDP of India every year

Not quite -- the US real growth rate in 2007 was 2.2% i.e. $0.27 trillion. And, yes, both are waaaay waaay behind the US and both need to work at full steam, continuously for a couple of decades to come CLOSE in terms of overall GDP. But they will come close as they try to improve themselves --> for both these countries, their real competition is not against the US or against each other, their real fight is to bring out millions from poverty.

China brought nearly 400 million out of poverty in the two decades from 1980 to 2000. however, there are still more than half a BILLION Chinese who are dirt poor --> and the same or larger number of Indians.

all this growth is just to bring people out of mind-numbing poverty, not to compete with the US for top jock position

[LinnKeyes2000]

gee, i thought that was the growth of Us federal spending each year :)

[MunnaP]

This is to create a frame of reference for the GDP discussion ...

What drives the GDP of any modern economy?
The massive amount of energy derived from fossil fuels or other means.
Oil, Coal, Natural gas. In most the cases this energy use is largely
unavoidable. You have to heat your home in winter. You have to travel
by car. The public transportation is nonexistent outside certain areas.
The culture is more individualistic and fosters more consumption of
everything including energy.

India is a different ballgame. The energy usage of India would never
go as high as United states in per capita or in total. Most of the
country has warm/hot weather. No heating homes. Most of the homes
are well ventilated and door/windows always open. Air conditioning
is fairly rare outside the major cities. Even in major cities air
conditioning is relatively less used than in US. The country is 1/3
of US.. Transportation fuel requirements are never gonna be as high as US

Would India’s GDP be as big as US in USD numbers? probably never....

Would majority of people in India have a reasonably close standard of living
as that of average person in US?
That can happen even with a lower GDP number for India as a whole...

The folly of GDP statistics is that Consumption gets counted as wealth..