CAPITAL DEPRECIATION: The wearing out, breaking down, or technological obsolescence of physical capital that results from use in the production of goods and services. To paraphrase an old saying, "You can't make a car without breaking a few socket wrenches." In other words, when capital is used over and over again to produce goods and services, it wears down from such use.

     See also | capital consumption adjustment | net national product | national income | personal income | disposable income | gross national product | real gross domestic product | net domestic product | gross domestic product | production | gross private domestic investment | net private domestic investment | capital | investment | investment expenditures | National Income and Product Accounts | Bureau of Economic Analysis | National Bureau of Economic Research | macroeconomic problems | macroeconomic theories | macroeconomic sectors | circular flow | business cycles | stabilization policies | gross domestic product, ins and outs | gross domestic product, expenditures | gross domestic product, income | net foreign factor income |