Use current dollars when you want to show the size of economic activity or want to make comparisons of magnitude of output or spending at a point in time. Examples of the use of current-dollar estimates include:

• The U.S. economy produced $11.0 trillion dollars in goods and services in 2003. (These estimates may be found in table 3 of the GDP news release and in table 1.1.5 of the NIPA tables on BEA’s Web site.)
• Seventy percent of the goods and services produced by our economy are purchased by consumers. (These estimates may be found in table1.1.10 of the NIPA tables on BEA’s Web site.)
• In 2003, American consumers spent nearly as much for computers as they did for shoes. (These estimates may be found in table 2.4.5 of the NIPA tables on BEA’s Web site.)