An Example of Journalistic Innumeracy
Jonathan Alter, Newsweek columnist, in an article about Bill Gates' latest philanthropic efforts makes an inapt comparison in referring to "the man who, at last count, still had a larger net worth than the GDP of 120 of the world's 180 countries."
Net worth is a measure of accumulated wealth; GDP is a measure of economic activity. The former is a static measure, the latter dynamic, so he's making an apples-to-oranges comparison. The net worth of each of those 120 countries is considerably greater than their annual economic activity (reflecting the underlying value of all of the productive assets in the country), so Alter's point about Gates' relative wealth is not well served by the example.
This is not to pick on Alter. It's a common journalistic trope, and I wish they'd all cut it out.
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