The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 17

Recall back in Chapter 2, Brown swapped some of her stout for some of Jones's lager beer. Both enjoyed more wealth as a result. They were able to enjoy a larger combination of those two beers by specializing and exchanging.
(a) Do you agree that this is an "economic activity" on their behalf? That is, their acts of specialization and exchange are part of the overall economic system?
(b) Do you agree with the national income accountants that the activity should not be considered when computing the GDP figures, even though those figures are attempting to estimate the real performance of the overall economy?
(c) If you disagree with the national income accountants, then answer this question: How do you propose that they measure and include that activity? Considering this new question, how do you feel about your initial answer to part (b)?