The gross domestic product (GDP)

The gross domestic product (GDP) - jumped from $213 billion in 1945 to more than $500 billion in 1960; by 1970, it exceeded $1 trillion. To working Americans, this sustained economic growth meant a 25 percent ride in real income between 1946 and 1959. The downside was that while in earlier peacetime years, military spending has consisted only 1 percent of GDP, now it represented 10 percent.

The total value of goods and services produced within a country's borders during a fixed period, usually one year. Obtained by adding the value contributed by each sector of the economy in the form of compensation of employees, profits, and depreciation (consumption of capital). ...