...Expansionary economic policy During the Great Depression, the United States suffered severe and lasting unemployment, along with falling prices and a sharp decline in real output. Because the unemployment level lasted so long, the Keynesians disagreed with the Classical theorist. The Classical economists argued that recessions would be temporary and self-correcting; therefore, the government should have a limited role in the money supply. Whereas, the Keynesians argued that during a time of long-term financial crises the government should intervene by injecting money into the market. Still many economists continue to debate about which economic policy to implement during a crisis in the financial market. Therefore, in an effort to move the economy out of a recession, the federal government engages in expansionary economic policies to alleviate the strain. A recession is a general slowdown in economic activity, during which the federal government will implement fiscal policies and the Federal Reserve Bank will implement monetary policies to stabilize the economy. Indeed, policy measures implemented to increase Gross Domestic Product (hereinafter referred to as GDP), and economic growth are expansionary. When the federal government implements fiscal policy it is to stimulate growth and employment by changing tax rates, levels of transfer payments, or government purchases of goods and services in order to change the equilibrium level of national income (Amacher & Pate, 2012)...
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...between sovereign debt management and monetary policy under fiscal dominance and financial instability Hans J Blommestein and Philip Turner1 Abstract Serious fiscal vulnerabilities arising from many years of high government/GDP ratios have created new and complex interactions between public debt management and monetary policy. Although their formal mandates have not changed, recent balance sheet policies of many central banks have tended to blur the separation of their policies from fiscal policy. The mandates of debt management offices have usually had a microeconomic focus (viz, minimising longer-term borrowing costs, while limiting refunding risks). Such mandates have usually avoided any explicit macroeconomic policy dimension but some major policy overlaps are latent. What is needed is a policy framework for all official actions that affect the maturity structure of government debt in the hands of the public. This requires more analysis of the macroeconomics of government debt management. A full debate about the allocation of functional responsibilities would have to take account not only of the economics, but also of political and institutional constraints. There are operational advantages in having in place appropriate governance arrangements that serve to forestall short-sighted policies and hold specific institutions accountable for their mandates. Keywords: Monetary policy, central banks, policy design and consistency, policy coordination, debt management, sovereign debt...
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...guidelines consist of 25 pages. Copyright reserved Please turn over Economics 2 Examination Guidelines DBE/2014 INDEX PAGE 3 1. INTRODUCTION 2. ASSESSMENT IN GRADE 12 2.1 Format of the question papers 2.2 Detail of question papers 4 4 4 3. CONTENT 6 4. CONCLUSION Copyright reserved 25 Please turn over Economics 1. 3 Examination Guidelines DBE/2014 INTRODUCTION The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Economics outlines the nature and purpose of the subject Economics. This guides the philosophy underlying the teaching and assessment of the subject in Grade 12. The purpose of these Examination Guidelines is to: • • Provide clarity on the depth and scope of the content to be assessed in the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination in Economics. Assist teachers to adequately prepare learners for the examinations. This document deals with the final Grade 12 external examinations. It does not deal in any depth with the School-Based Assessment (SBA). This guideline should be read in conjunction with: • • • The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS): Economics The National Protocol of Assessment: An addendum to the policy document, the National Senior Certificate: A qualification at Level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), regarding the National Protocol for Assessment (Grades R–12) The national policy pertaining to the programme and promotion requirements of the National...
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...ER E N U OP A E CON OMY E o o cP p r 3 1 Mac 2 0 c n mi a es 1 | rh 0 8 E o o c o en n ena e l gde r ae cn mig vra c i n na e uo ra r Ii B g a eg n E R P A C MMISO U OEN O S IN EMU@10 Research In May 2008, it will be ten years since the final decision to move to the third and final stage of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and the decision on which countries would be the first to introduce the euro. To mark this anniversary, the Commission is undertaking a strategic review of EMU. This paper constitutes part of the research that was either conducted or financed by the Commission as source material for the review. Economic Papers are written by the Staff of the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, or by experts working in association with them. The Papers are intended to increase awareness of the technical work being done by staff and to seek comments and suggestions for further analysis. The views expressed are the author’s alone and do not necessarily correspond to those of the European Commission. Comments and enquiries should be addressed to: European Commission Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs Publications B-1049 Brussels Belgium E-mail: Ecfin-Info@ec.europa.eu This paper exists in English only and can be downloaded from the website http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications A great deal of additional information is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu) ...
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...Dwijendra Srivastava, chief investment officer (debt) at Sundaram Mutual Fund. India’s external sector was vulnerable till recently, with the current account deficit above the comfort level of 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product. It was 4.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011-12 and rose to 4.7 per cent in 2012-13. After severe curbs, including restrictions on import of precious metals, the deficit fell to 1.7 per cent in 2013-14. In 2014-15, it continued to stay low, with the third quarter showing a deficit of 1.6 per cent. The fiscal situation remains fragile. The turning point was in 2007, the year of the global financial crisis. The fiscal deficit of the central government has been 4.6-6.5 per cent in the past six years, before falling to 4.1 per cent in 2013-14. The government is committed to keeping the fiscal deficit low and the target of 3.9 per cent has been retained for this year. The deficit target will be progressively reduced to 3.5 and three per cent in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively. Experts believe utmost care should be taken along the path of convertibility. Ajit Ranade, chief economist at the Aditya Birla Group, who was part of an RBI committee on...
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...Malaysia and Pakistan Muhammad Mahmud*, Gobind M. Herani** A. W. Rajar*** and Wahid Farooqi**** ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to determine the factors that influence a firm’s choice of capital structure in three Asian countries: Japan, Malaysia and Pakistan. The specific objective is to investigate if country’s economic factors play a significant role in determining capital structure between markets. These countries are chosen in order to represent three different stages of economic development. Literature review reveals that considerable research has been made in the industrialized countries on the similar topic. Capital structure is one of the most complex areas of strategic financial decision making due to its interrelationship with macroeconomic variables. This study reveals that per capita GNP growth for Japan and Malaysia is significantly related to capital structure of firm and higher economic growth tends to cause to use more long term debt. These results for Pakistan are different from those other two countries. This also shows that inefficiencies coupled with high leverage may entangle Pakistani firms in debt trap. The indicator of prime lending rate is the most decisive factor affecting demand for credit for Japan and...
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...technical progress to human capital investment and social inclusion. Institutions have come into the equation, as has a prominent role for markets and for the state as drivers of development. Underlying these views were practicalities that shaped the way countries dealt with their need for foreign capital, the management of the macroeconomy, and their responses to economic and financial crises. There was a prominent role for the so-called Bretton Woods institutions, namely, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in shaping prevailing views of development and putting them into practice. This Danny Leipziger The Role and Influence of IFIs has been important, both directly and indirectly, in affecting policy choices made by developing country governments over past decades. Keywords: Bretton Woods Institutions; World Bank ideology toward development; IMF ideology and development; changing development paradigms; international financial institutions; Bank-Fund Collaboration; Bank-Fund Concordat. Chapter 49 Page 2 Danny Leipziger The Role and Influence of IFIs Introduction International financial institutions (IFIs) have strongly influenced development thinking and practice in recent decades. IFIs have exerted direct influence thorough the volume of their financial transfers, and indirectly, for example, through their impact on the resource transfers of others, including donors and the private sector. Even more important, IFI analysis and ideas have dominated...
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...economic recovery and bolstering the Democratic platform of all for one and one for all. This topic is especially close to me because like so many Americans that lost their jobs due to no fault of their own, I was also left unemployed through no fault of my own, so I have a vested interest in the outcome of the decisions that our government made on our behalf. This social issue has opened my eyes to the importance of politics and how our votes really do count. It made me realize how significant political policies really impact certain groups of people in different ways and how masterful a party can be by injecting negative influences into the public’s psyche. Review of Literature A study conducted by Daniel Aronson, Bhashkar Mazumder, and Shani Schechter of the Chicago Federal Reserve points out that as we entered 2010, the average length of an ongoing spell of unemployment in the United States was more than 30 weeks. Remarkably, more than 4 percent of the labor force (that is, over 40 percent of those unemployed) were out of work for more than 26 weeks—we consider these workers to be long-term unemployed. In contrast, the last time unemployment reached 10 percent in the United States, in the early 1980s, the share of the labor force that was long-term unemployed...
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...during this period. Major price changes within a short timeframe are called shocks. The research I propose will attempt to answer the question: What is the impact of changing oil prices on the macro economy of a country? Research has demonstrated oil price fluctuations do impact economies as well as supply of and demand for the commodity. This influence on macroeconomic activity generated symmetric movement between price and many macroeconomic indices in the 1970's. However, after 1982, macroeconomic indices did not demonstrate the same proclivity to react to oil price movement. Information spreads almost instantly with the emergence of the internet. This expedient movement of news has led to an evolving trend of speculation which may or may not be beneficial to commodity pricing. One may infer that the recent prevalence of mass media leads to rapid movement back and forth of oil prices. I insert this topic at this point to bring to the surface that mass media was in early development during the proposed study periods. The research on oil price fluctuation has produced varying reactions among academia and policy makers. Impressions about the impact of oil price fluctuation and the resulting effect...
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...Richard Baldwin CEPR Press a A VoxEU.org Book Secular Stagnation: Facts, Causes, and Cures A VoxEU.org eBook Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Centre for Economic Policy Research 3rd Floor 77 Bastwick Street London, EC1V 3PZ UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7183 8801 Email: cepr@cepr.org Web: www.cepr.org ISBN: 978-1-907142-77-2 © CEPR Press, 2014 Secular Stagnation: Facts, Causes, and Cures A VoxEU.org eBook edited by Coen Teulings and Richard Baldwin CEPR Press abcde Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) is a network of almost 900 research economists based mostly in European universities. The Centre’s goal is twofold: to promote world-class research, and to get the policy-relevant results into the hands of key decision-makers. CEPR’s guiding principle is ‘Research excellence with policy relevance’. A registered charity since it was founded in 1983, CEPR is independent of all public and private interest groups. It takes no institutional stand on economic policy matters and its core funding comes from its Institutional Members and sales of publications. Because it draws on such a large network of researchers, its output reflects a broad spectrum of individual viewpoints as well as perspectives drawn from civil society. CEPR research may include views on policy, but the Executive Committee of the Centre does not give prior review to its publications. The opinions expressed in this report are those of...
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...O C C A S I O N A L PA P E R S E R I E S N O 1 2 3 / F E B R UA RY 2 011 THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS by Ettore Dorrucci and Julie McKay OCCASIONAL PAPER SERIES NO 123 / FEBRUARY 2011 THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS by Ettore Dorrucci and Julie McKay1 NOTE: This Occasional Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the European Central Bank (ECB). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the ECB. In 2011 all ECB publications feature a motif taken from the €100 banknote. This paper can be downloaded without charge from http://www.ecb.europa.eu or from the Social Science Research Network electronic library at http://ssrn.com/abstract_id=1646277 1 European Central Bank, Ettore.Dorrucci@ecb.europa.eu, Julie.McKay@ecb.europa.eu. The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Central Bank. The authors would like to thank, outside their institution, A. Afota, C. Borio, M. Committeri, B. Eichengreen, A. Erce, A. Gastaud, P. L'Hotelleire-Fallois Armas, P. Moreno, P. Sedlacek, Z. Szalai, I. Visco and J-P. Yanitch, and, within their institution, R. Beck, T. Bracke, A. Chudik, A. Mehl, E. Mileva, F. Moss, G. Pineau, F. Ramon-Ballester, L. Stracca, R. Straub, and C. Thimann for their very helpful comments and/or inputs. © European Central Bank, 2011 Address Kaiserstrasse 29 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany...
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...Assignment One The decoupling debate is back! Indeed, the notion that the health of emerging markets is no longer determined by the ups-and-downs in developed economies -- or even that emerging markets may be insulated from global shocks -- has been in vogue of late. Last fall, the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing stock market crash dragged down emerging markets: decoupling seemed dead. Now, pundits who recently mocked the hypothesis are starting to wonder aloud if there might after all be something to it. The IMF forecasts that advanced economies will contract 3.8 percent in 2009; emerging economies are expected to post 1.6 percent growth this year. And international investors are flocking to emerging markets, which have beat those in developed countries by nearly 50 percent in the past six months. Yet, neither the synchronized turndown nor uneven rebound is sufficient to prove decoupling true or false. The term is amorphous, and perhaps best used as a Rorschach test for the proclivities and interests of its wielder. But the underlying concept has staying power. And certain aspects of the decoupling hypothesis are important to examine, to see what they portend for the future of the global economy. First, there is a good deal of confusion about the distinction between cross-country synchronization of financial markets and economic activity. With capital and news flowing more freely and quickly across borders, stock markets around the world are increasingly synchronized...
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...as representing the views of the IMF. The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. This paper stresses three factors that amplified the 1990s financial crisis in Ecuador, namely institutional weaknesses, rigidities in public finances, and high financial dollarization. Institutional factors restricted the government’s ability to respond in a timely manner and efficiently enough to prevent the escalation of the banking crisis and spurred the adoption of suboptimal policy decisions. Public finance rigidities limited the government’s capacity to correct existing imbalances and the deteriorating fiscal stance associated with the costs of the financial crisis. Financial dollarization increasingly reduced the effectiveness of financial safety nets, fostered foreign currency demand, and accelerated a currency crisis, thereby further worsening the solvency of banks. These three factors reinforced each other, exacerbating costs as the economy went through a triple banking, currency, and fiscal crisis. JEL Classification Numbers: G21, G28, N46, O54 Keywords: banking crisis, institutions, fiscal policy, monetary...
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...At the same time, there was slight increase in business fixed investment sector. This was mainly attributed to good performance in software and equipment. In general, the economy seems to be headed for recovery (United Nations, 2010). There were increased product and services exports as well as over growth in consumer spending. Overall federal government spending increased. This was as a result of increased government spending in military. The issue of oil and turmoil in oil producing countries especially in North Africa has contributed negatively to the economy. High energy costs mean that most sections of the economy will experience high production costs. Final products will be more costly to the consumer and thus leading to reduced consumer spending. A broader look at the state of the economy reveals that the economy is headed for a recovery. Most core sections of the economy have begun to register growth meaning that soon the economy will bounce back (United Nations, 2010). Macroeconomic Snapshots and Forecast Several surveys have been conducted to determine the financial situation of United States. Executives' sanguinity about the budget has continued to propagate over the past months, rendering to the outcomes of a McKinsey Quarterly survey in the area. This was carried out throughout the week that U.S. stock markets hit their topmost point so far in 2009. More businesses are...
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...allocate resources across space and time. According to the author, financial development affects capital accumulation and technological innovation through at least five channels: by facilitating risk management, by reducing the costs of acquiring information about new investment opportunities, by simplifying corporate control over managers, by mobilizing savings, and by facilitating exchanges and thus promoting specialization and innovation. The author discusses that another financial indicator that suggests the region has a significant progress to make is the interest rate spread which is the margin between rates paid on liabilities and those received on assets. This chapter provides new evidence on the extent of firms’ access to financial services in the Latin America and Caribbean region and the relationships between access and selected policy-relevant variables. Moreover, the chapter explores the determinants of access by firms in the Enterprise Surveys sample. Also, the chapter studies the relationship between quality of courts and access to financial services. According to the Enterprise Surveys, the analysis of access focuses on the following six principal measures: First, Checking, which is an indicator variable that equals 1 if the enterprise has a checking account. Second, credit, is an indicator that equals 1 if the enterprise has overdraft, loan, line of credit, or any bank financing for working capital or investment. Third, Unconstrained which is an indicator variable...
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