I was amazed I got all of these right. I had 1:24 remaining at 7:06:24 PM on February 26, 2019. Thailand was the last one I guessed, as I sorted through my mind what the most likely countries were.
-TERRIBLE MISTAKE- I was thinking about Egypt at first, but I didn't think it would be on there so I thought I might aswell leave it. I was missing one more and that one turned out to be Egypt! :(
Iran and Turkey are much more populous than Poland. Also, the GDPs are calculated using the purchasing power parity (ppp) method, which means that cheaper countries get a boost. Iran and Turkey have a lower cost of living than Poland.
it's not rich. But the economy has been doing well and they have a pretty large population. Also, the country is relatively cheap, so if you use actual GDP figures and not PPP they drop to 22nd-25th.
I think it would be better if this quiz was named "Countries with the Biggest GDPs (PPP)" and if we had another featured quiz named "Countries with the Biggest GDPs (nominal)". It would clear out the confusion and disagreements in the comments, and also we would have one more quiz to solve and get points! :)
A bit confusing that the title uses GDP but the answer table uses GNP. I guess it doesn't affect the ability to complete it in any measurable way, though
If China being ahead of the US is because of China handling the virus "well" I'm not sure I believe that. China is very insecure about it's image around the world to the point that it has bought into certain western news organizations and lied about handling covid well. You can't trust a government who uses propaganda to suppress anything which could make it look bad.
HOW CAN USA BE NUMBER 2 (AFTER CHINA) AND YET THE BASIS OF THE GDP MEASUREMENT IS USA DOLLARS (USD)? If we have to compare then we should adopt a Universal Standard that can bring out the real situation neutrally.
I'd say we should change this quiz into one that's based on GDP that is calculated nominally, and create a separate quiz for GDP (PPP).
GDP (nominal) is more commonly used to simply measure the sizes/production/output of national economies and as GDP (PPP) is more often used for purposes related to standards of living or the market sizes due to their inherent characteristics.
(Allow me to write up rest of the response below as I lack the space to do it here alone)
You've formerly stated that the reason you used GDP (PPP) over nominal GDP is because GDP (PPP) is less affected by fluctuations in currency values, which is true and which is the reason why GDP (PPP) is commonly used for calculation of the market sizes and all. However when we are to compare national economies and their capabilities, GDP (PPP) is often considered unfit for purpose. There is a reason why nominal GDP is preferred in such fields despite its woes which GDP PPP may solve.
Firstly, one big problem is that GDP (PPP) fails to take account of different industrial structures, qualities of products and how products are valued in different countries and therefore lacks accuracy - especially when comparing between developed and developing nations, with differing industrial structures and qualities of goods and services. Now how can this lead to a fall in accuracy one may ask, so let's take an example.
Haiti - though I'd hate to say this - is quite well known for its poverty and I'll assume that you are aware of this too. Its nominal GDP is at 761$ but its GDP PPP is at 1810$ and here you may see a huge discrepancy. The cause of discrepancy comes from the industrial context of Haiti. Haiti, like many other developing nations, lacks the industrial base to produce a lot of consumer goods on its own and thus it is mostly reliant on neighbouring DR for import of such. Now you may probably see the problem here. Though Haitians suffer from high living costs due to being charged the same prices for consumer goods as neighbouring DR (Because, it's not like DR would sell products at a devalued price because Haitians have a lower income than they have) while PPP will adjust the influence of the exchange rate when calculating the GDP PPP. Thus by using the GDP PPP, Haitians' purchasing power in actuality will be overvalued, hence the inaccuracy. And the Haitians are in good company as many othe
LEDCs also suffer from high living costs ignored by the GDP PPP, being reliant on imports for daily consumer goods. There is a reason why there was a time when Luanda was ranked the most expensive city in the World.
Plus there is a general argument that exchange rates are inseparable when we're to measure and compare the economic powers of countries. This is a quote from a WSJ article: ''China can’t buy missiles and ships and Iphones and German cars in PPP currency. They have to pay at prevailing exchange rates. That’s why exchange rate valuations are seen as more important when comparing the power of nations.". The quote saying the PPP is not adequate to measure what an economy can exactly do.
Sorry for that long read but if you did make it to this point, please do consider making the said changes? While GDP PPP is an undoubtedly useful figure, it seems quite inappropriate to use for a quiz that's "biggest economies quiz" - or so my opinion goes. Uh thank you for reading..?
I agree. PPP should be used for per capita figures when comparing standards of living, but not in this context of comparing the size of national economies.
One thing that no one seems to mention is how using nominal GDP creates huge swings year to year.
For example, the Euro declined by about 25% vs. the USD over a 15 month period in 2021–22.
This would mean Germany, France, Italy, and other Eurozone countries would have a 25% SMALLER economy in nominal terms. Those are Great Depression levels of decline and in no way reflect the actual economies of those countries.
Our quiz would have radical swings every year just based on the whims of currency traders.
I think you're overselling the magnitude of the swings.
Italy nominal GDP and rank by IMF report year:
2023: $2.170 t - 8th
2022: $2.058 t - 9th
2021: $2.106 t - 8th
2020: $1.989 t - 8th
And those changes in exchange rates aren't spurious, they reflect real changes in the degree to which the global market values what a country produces. That's at the essence of what we mean when we say how big a country's economy is.
Wow. Seems like Mexico hit the jackpot in terms of geographic location. I'd have thought they'd find it worthwhile to put more effort into protecting the American border from people looking to leech off of their benefactor. Seems like they're only hurting themselves long-term.
I almost got everything within under a minute on my first attempt with like 17-20 less than a minute. Indonesia and Saudi Arabia confused me for a bit but then one country had me guessing for an extra 2 minutes. Damn you, Canada.
What a shame.-.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchasing_power_parity
Was this is a mistake?
Am I talking to anyone over here so?🤔🤗🤣
GDP (nominal) is more commonly used to simply measure the sizes/production/output of national economies and as GDP (PPP) is more often used for purposes related to standards of living or the market sizes due to their inherent characteristics.
(Allow me to write up rest of the response below as I lack the space to do it here alone)
Firstly, one big problem is that GDP (PPP) fails to take account of different industrial structures, qualities of products and how products are valued in different countries and therefore lacks accuracy - especially when comparing between developed and developing nations, with differing industrial structures and qualities of goods and services. Now how can this lead to a fall in accuracy one may ask, so let's take an example.
Plus there is a general argument that exchange rates are inseparable when we're to measure and compare the economic powers of countries. This is a quote from a WSJ article: ''China can’t buy missiles and ships and Iphones and German cars in PPP currency. They have to pay at prevailing exchange rates. That’s why exchange rate valuations are seen as more important when comparing the power of nations.". The quote saying the PPP is not adequate to measure what an economy can exactly do.
Sorry for that long read but if you did make it to this point, please do consider making the said changes? While GDP PPP is an undoubtedly useful figure, it seems quite inappropriate to use for a quiz that's "biggest economies quiz" - or so my opinion goes. Uh thank you for reading..?
For example, the Euro declined by about 25% vs. the USD over a 15 month period in 2021–22.
This would mean Germany, France, Italy, and other Eurozone countries would have a 25% SMALLER economy in nominal terms. Those are Great Depression levels of decline and in no way reflect the actual economies of those countries.
Our quiz would have radical swings every year just based on the whims of currency traders.
PPP fixes this.
Italy nominal GDP and rank by IMF report year:
2023: $2.170 t - 8th
2022: $2.058 t - 9th
2021: $2.106 t - 8th
2020: $1.989 t - 8th
And those changes in exchange rates aren't spurious, they reflect real changes in the degree to which the global market values what a country produces. That's at the essence of what we mean when we say how big a country's economy is.
As of April 2023, India's nominal GDP is $3.7 trillion, but its PPP GDP is $13.0 trillion.
Germany
99%
0%
4.03 United Kingdom
99%
0%
2.52 Spain
97%
0%
2.35 Saudi Arabia
91%
0%
3.83 Turkey
89%
0%
1.90 Egypt
86%
0%
1.85 Iran
86%
0%
1.80 Poland
83%
0%