https://fee.org/articles/3-common-economic-fallacies-that-need-to-die/

FEE.org posted 3 Common Economic Fallacies That Need to Die.

• Imports Subtract From Economic Growth
• Middle-Class Stagnation
• The Gender Wage Gap

This gave me the idea to put together a list of Economic fallacies.

Of course, one man’s list of economic fallacies is another man’s list of economic truths.

The fact that Fee.org felt these needed to be discussed is important.

The question with any belief is; whether it’s built on fallacies or truths.

Fee.org is a very conservative. So understanding what they think are economic fallacies is important.

Belief: Imports Subtract From Economic Growth

Arguments for Imports Subtracting from economic growth as an economic fallacy.

Fee.org wrote,

it is an economic fallacy that the value of goods imported from foreign countries directly subtracts from a country’s overall economic performance (measured as Gross Domestic Product, or GDP).

The fallacy they say is with this statement “trade subtracted 3.2 percentage points from overall GDP growth, as exports fell sharply and imports soared.”

This logic implies that every dollar Americans spend on imported goods reduces the size of America’s economy by one dollar.

Now, if that were true, we might as well stop importing any goods at all – but as it happens, this belief is completely based on a misunderstanding of how GDP is calculated.

GDP = private consumption + private investment + total government spending + (exports – imports)

https://economicslearningcommunity.org/lessons/economics-foundations/history-of-economic-thought/