In a perfect world, you could get your GDP total from adding up these categories of income rather than the more familiar categories of spending.

FORBES: The Income Side of GDP

No matter that, in the October, 2011 data from the Congressional Budget Office, which is used to fuel the class warfare rhetoric, in fact all categories of income rose during the studied period (1997-2007).

FORBES: Obama Exploits A Downturn To Engineer Us Socially

Conceptually, spending from the various categories generates an equal amount of income, which we divide into separate categories also.

FORBES: The Income Side of GDP

Within each category, all items of income and loss must be allocated similarly, though separate categories can be allocated differently among members.

FORBES: Business Return Due Dates

According to marketingcharts.com, baby boomers are just 44% of the population, but control 70% of disposable income, spend money online, and dominate in nearly all consumer product goods categories.

FORBES: Are Baby Boomers an Invisible Goldmine for Marketers?

Commercial banks have three accounting categories, or buckets, to choose from--two of which don't end up on the income statement.

FORBES: Beware That Commercial Bank

Monetary reform can be the issue that propels Gingrich above the tawdry attacks on his personal life and questions about his reliability all the way to the Republican nomination, because it puts him ahead of Governor Romney and Senator Santorum on a policy that enjoys a clear plurality of support among Republicans, Democrats, blacks, whites, hispanics and individuals across all income categories.

FORBES: Gingrich, The Gold Standard, And The Florida Primary

Within those categories, there are more than 100 sub-criteria, like degree of confinement in the work environment and income growth potential. (My colleague Jacquelyn Smith covered the last best and worst lists here.) The data come from the BLS, the Census Bureau, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and an array of private compensation surveys, trade association studies and state statistics.

FORBES: The Most Overrated Jobs 2012