Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Real: "inflation-adjusted."

So, this year, GDP was up 6%. But inflation was 2.5%. The real GDP? Yep: 3.5%.

Why would we care about this notion? Well, inflation masks true economic progress. Like...what if we had massive inflation of 7% and GDP was up only 4%? Then real "growth" was actually shrinkage of 3%.

Inflation matters. It sucks away economic progress when it's virulent. So call Orkin and spray for those bugs if you ever find yourself running The Fed.