<prompt> Human: Curious, why is it that mutual funds can grow anywhere from 8-12 annually whereas the U.S. economy GDP will only grow at 2 or 3?  <response>: GDP and stock market performance dont track the same thing, so its not surprising they dont have exactly the same growth.The stock market is an efficient way for individuals to derive income from their capital, and for firms to obtain and employ that capital. The returns you see on the stock market and on mutual funds that hold stocks from the stock market is the return on capital.The GDP is the aggregate income produced by all the factors of production located in the country. This includes not only the income earned from capital, but also the income earned from the other three factors: labour, entrepreneurship, and land. Also, there is some private capital in the country that is employed in private businesses, that never makes it onto the public stock market. All of this income is included in the GDP, which makes the GDP different from the stock market. 