1.   America guzzles more gas per person than any other big country, and uses more energy to produce each unit of economic output than most of its rivals.

2.   And the U.S. still tops the world in economic output and trade volume.

3.   As a result this year, domestic consumption rather than exports is likely to contribute a larger percentage of the increase in economic output, the report said.

4.   As defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, productivity is simply the increase, year to year, in economic output by each worker.

5.   As long as economic output is increasing, there can be no official recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

6.   Auto manufacturing is a big part of the American economy, accounting for a quarter of the combined economic output of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

7.   A five-tenths of a percent increase in new capital would translate into an increase of about sixteen-hundredths of a percent in economic output.

8.   A large rise in rates would slow economic output, raising unemployment and lowering incomes, which is unnecessary given the current level of inflation, Kohn said.

9.   A recession is by definition two consecutive quarters during which the value of economic output declines, but it falls to the bureau to make the official call.

10.   A slowing in the pace of economic output reduces pressure on the U.K. authorities to raise interest rates.