...Chapter 1 What is Macroeconomics? ( Chapter Outline 1. How Macroeconomics Affects Our Everyday Lives (a) The “Big Three” Concepts of Macroeconomics 2. Defining Macroeconomics (a) How Macroeconomics Differs from Microeconomics (b) Economic Theory: A Process of Simplification 3. Actual and Natural Real GDP (a) Unemployment: Actual and Natural (b) Real GDP and the Three Macro Concepts 4. Macroeconomics in the Short Run and Long Run (a) The Short Run: Business Cycles (b) Business Cycle Concepts (c) The Long Run: Economic Growth 5. Case Study: A Century of Business Cycles (a) Real GDP (b) Unemployment 6. Macroeconomics at the Extremes (a) Unemployment in the Great Depression, 1929–40 (b) The German Hyperinflation of 1922–23 (c) Fast and Slow Growth in Asia 7. Taming Business Cycles: Stabilization Policy (a) The Role of Stabilization Policy 8. The “Internationalization” of Macroeconomics IP* Box: How Does U.S. Economic Performance Rank? ( Chapter Overview Chapter 1 begins by introducing a set of three central macroeconomic concepts, called the “Big Three Concepts of Macroeconomics. They are the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, and productivity growth. Introducing the field of macroeconomics to students in this way has an important advantage. It facilitates the early introduction and definition of basic macroeconomic terminology, which gives students a chance to get used to thinking of macroeconomic issues in terms...
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...resulting from a recession can actually help stabilize an economy. 2. Describe how adjustments in wages and prices take the economy from the short-run equilibrium to the long-run equilibrium. 3. Explain why a system of marketable pollution permits leads to less costly pollution abatement and a higher concentration of polluted areas than a command-and-control system. 4. Although GDP per capita is the most commonly used measure of a country’s success, many economists believes it does not give an accurate measure of a nation’s economic well-being. Some studies have concluded that that GDP is not the best measure of well-being, and although it may be the best available on a timely basis, other factors need to be considered in addition to GDP to give a more accurate picture of economic well-being and the disparity of well-being between nations. Clearly identify at least three such factors that in your view should be included in the GDP calculations. Explain and illustrate how they will help to improve the GDP as a tool for measuring the well-being of a nation. Describe the impact of public goods and externalities on the functioning of an economy. • Use the dynamics of the labor market to anticipate wage rate and labor supply changes. • Analysis of the key macroeconomic phenomena: GDP, unemployment, inflation. • Use technology and information resources to research issues in economics Solution: 1) Explain how an increased federal budget deficit resulting from a recession can actually...
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...Daniel Bibonge Amsini Econ 412 December 18th, 2014 The US and its Current Account Deficit America's current account deficit has been fluctuating over the past 20 years. From 1991 it rose to a record high of about 6% of GDP in 2006 and it began to fall a year later to finally reach a level of 3% of GDP in 20091. Capital inflows finance the current account deficit. Economists are wondering if such large inflows are sustainable. According to economic theory, a current account deficit is not necessarily harmful as it stimulates a period of inward investment that can actually boost a country’s employment and investments. The current account deficit is still considered too large even at 3% and there is fear that it is caused by the recession. However economists believe that the US current account deficit may actually contribute to its development and attract foreign investors. The current account deficit is actually a good arsenal for the development of a country. For example, Japan invested a lot in the UK and this caused the emergence of new jobs in addition to the increased investment. The following paragraphs will enlighten more about how the current account of the US can affect its economy. 1 Feenstra, Robert C., and Alan M. Taylor. "National and International Account." International Macroeconomics. New York: Worth, 2012. 172-77. Print. A current account deficit (CAD) occurs when a country has an excess of one or more of the four factors (goods, services...
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...Global economic issues Globalization in Economics and Its Consequences Introduction The contemporary world is slowly getting more integrated socially, economically and politically. Economic globalization encompasses the entire world and a growing amalgamation of the global production, consumption and the fiscal markets with a simultaneous harmonization of global cultures. Globalization of the transitional monetary system was manifest after WWII and the Great Depression of the 30s in US. The evolution of Multinational enterprises was a resultant phenomenon of globalization. In principle, globalization on the fiscal front submits to the assimilation of merchandise, prices, labour incomes, revenue rates and proceeds toward industrialized nation standards (Garrett, 2000). The emergency in the volume of business between industrialized nations and the developing nations, augment in cross-border dealings, increase in immigration and transfer of skill are fundamental issues of globalization. In simple words globalization is analogous to making the entire world function as a huge country. Globalization: The term globalization can broadly be defined as a process through which global networking of communication, trade, and transport leads to integration of regional economies and cultural societies. The process is a result of a combination of factors like culture, technology, politics, and economics. Economic globalization refers to “the integration of national economies into the international...
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...Colgate Palmolive which represent the majority of the market share in the United States. Finally, it is found that innovation is a key factor in monopolistic competition because it represents the ability to differentiate products and attract more consumers. The main conclusion drawn from this paper is that the monopolistic competition is the most common model in the United States and the technology and innovation advances have allowed organizations to reach these types of markets and maximize profits. Venezuela vs. United States Economy Have you ever though why some countries are richer than others? Or what there is inequality among countries? All those answers are related to the economy of a country and their macroeconomic indicators. Today, macroeconomic is a crucial concept that we can see every day in the news; employment, inflation, and growth are some of those economy indicators. (1) But it is not so easy to say why a country is richer than other; or why the economy of a country with one of the highest reserve of oils does not have a good economic performance as other countries have. It does not depend on one only thing, there are several factors that increase the gap between two countries in terms of economic development and growth. This paper develops a comparative case study to illustrate the performance economy of two countries, and the level of income disparity...
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...CHAPTER 1 MACROECONOMIC SITUATION [The economy of Bangladesh has successfully tackled the contagion effect of global economic crisis and managed to maintain a sustained growth. According to a provisional estimate, the economy has posted a growth of 6.66 percent in FY2010-11 against that of 6.07 percent in FY2009-10. This performance is mainly attributable to the sustained growth in agriculture sector coupled with recovery of growth in industry sector and the satisfactory performance of service sector. During this period, higher growth in revenue mobilisation and prudent budget management helped maintain macroeconomic stability and discipline in fiscal front. Furthermore, the increasing global demand for goods and services after recovery has helped achieving higher growth in foreign trade, while soaring global food and non-food prices has created inflationary pressure in the country. Alongside adopting various administrative and structural measures, monetary policy instruments have also been used to reduce the inflationary pressure. Moreover, slower growth in remittance inflows and higher import demand due to massive investment in infrastructure sector including the power sector, the current account balance and exchange rate was under pressure during the last quarter of FY2010-11. However, this situation did not emerge as a big challenge to the macroeconomic stability. The foreign exchange reserve remained steady at above US$ 10 billion during this period. Overseas job replacement...
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...company pays off any existing debt on its balance sheet, so it is considered as the best way for it to deleverage its sheet and become more liquid. The company may be facing a significant risk of defaults if it fails to pay off its existing debts. Deleveraging can be done both on micro-economic and macro-economic levels. At micro-economic level, decreasing the leverage ratio is known as deleveraging, of a single firm or single economic entity. Moreover, deleveraging on macro-economic level is when there is a reduction in debt levels in private and public sectors. Hence, this leads to a decline in the debt to the GDP ratio in the national account. There are several macro-economic consequences of deleveraging in an economy followed by severe recessions and financial crisis. According to some studies, deleveraging is considered as the main economic trend for the coming years. However, in contradiction to this, a lot of researchers show that this economic term can prove to be unhelpful. The most important step to reduce the assets to equity ratio is to reduce the amount of debt held by a company, government or household. This is the first way of cutting leverage. It is important to understand that assets must be reduced as well if the books need to be balanced; hence, not necessarily do assets support some kind of real economic activity. Once there is a lower leverage, there are great chances of reduced risks. The likelihood of default lowers if the equity buffers are bigger. Moreover...
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...Fundamentals of Macroeconomics JoRenie Armstrong ECO/372 March 23, 2015 Yohannes Mariam Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Fundamentals of Macroeconomics economic principles apply and affect the entire economic system that encompass the world. Macroeconomics directly impact every part of our government and every individual’s quality of life. The health of the nation’s economy affects our economy. A few areas that determine economic health are the gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP) the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, and taxes. The Principle areas of Macroeconomics covered in this paper examines the flow of resources between three entities - government, businesses, and individual households. Their interconnecting relationships of how various economic activities connect and affect one another verbalized from the author’s perspective. Households Daily acts, such as buying groceries has an enormous impact on our economy. Purchasing groceries on a regular basis directly affect the GDP. Consumer spending is a driving force of a nation’s economic health. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) defined is the final monetary measurement of a country’s production activities, of goods and services, bought by the end users in a given period. Purchasing groceries for consumption is part of the GDP collection process. This factor is how individual household purchases affect the nation’s economy. In times of a recession, consumers spending decreases. Consumers...
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...Macroeconomic aspects for defensive stock investing In the past decade, the stock market has had many ups and downs and private investors perceive stock investing more and more speculative and unpredictable. Part of this perception roots from the general trend towards computerized high frequency trading, which in 2010 accounted for up to 70 % of all trades made in the market. High frequency trading is done by mega computers which are programmed to take advantage of the slightest changes in the stock price by buying and selling within fractions of a second. Those programs pay no regard to the actual social and economic value of the company. Trends like that and criminal like actions by almost all major banks around the world (including inside trading, misinformation of customers, ruthless risk taking, etc. which lead to the worldwide economy crisis in 2008) leave private investors with the feeling that they get betrayed and can’t keep up with the rapid stock market. They might think that stocks are not a good investment tool for private investors anymore. However, statistics show that stocks measured over any ten-year time period for the last 75 years, have yielded a higher return than conservative investments in bonds or bank certificates of deposit (Kelly, 2007). For the mentioned and several other reasons, one still should consider using stocks as an investing tool. Consequently, if you can’t win the very short term, high frequency trading game, you might want to play a different...
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...Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper Part 1: Describe the following terms in your own words. Gross domestic product (GDP) is the indicator of the economic health of a country. Also a measure of the dollar value or goods produced at a given time period. Real GDP is nominal GDP adjusted for inflation. Real GDP is also what is important to a society because it measures what is really produced. Nominal GDP is a gross domestic product (GDP) number that has not been adjusted for inflation. Unemployment rate are rates at which people are either looking for a job or just simply does not have a job. It is measured by the number of people reportedly in the country at one time adjusted by those who are eligible to work and are not. Inflation rate are rates at which the economies prices are adjusting upward or downward. Prices increase and decrease and the measures show the strength or power. Interest rate is tax added back to the payback (what you owe). Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper Macroeconomics deals with such issues as national economic output and growth, unemployment, recession, inflation, foreign trade, and monetary and fiscal policy. Using macroeconomics we will study and explore the economy at the aggregate level because it is concerned with the workings of the whole economy or large sectors of it. The sectors include our government, households, and businesses. There are a multitude of different economic activities that affect...
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...for instance, is quite dramatic, with the economy stagnating. In France, high public deficits are a big worry; such a policy could not be continued for much longer. Underperforming fellow Eurozone nations could affect Germany’s own economic growth prospects, since they are the customers for most of Germany’s exports; it is expected that Germany’s gross domestic product will expand by just 1 percent in 2015. Despite the evident problems in Eurozone, Germany and France are determined to restore a confidence to the Euro.’ Discuss the statement, and use examples to justify your opinion. 1.0 Introduction The Global Financial Crisis or the ‘great recession’ as it is now known has been widely regarded as the worst global recession since the end of the Great Depression (Drezner, 2014). The events following the collapse of the US housing market and the subsequent financial meltdown has had consequences on a global scale, nowhere is this more evident than in the Eurozone (Allen & Ngai, 2012). The Eurozone, made up of 19 EU member states that have adopted a common currency and monetary policy, have faced increasing levels of public debt, economic stagnation and civil unrest (Ucler et al. 2015). Problems are further compounded by the fact that there...
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...Inflation and Government Economic Policies Student’s Name Course Name Instructor’s Name 1. What is inflation? What are the causes of inflation? Is inflation desirable and what can be done to control inflation in a market economy? Inflation, in simple terms, is the sustained increase in prices of goods and services produced and rendered in an economy. It is the upward movement in the average level of prices. Each unit of currency buys fewer goods and service when the general price level rises. Market power is the cause of inflation. The two main causes of inflation are: a. Demand push: When an economy is almost at full employment, the increase in the average demand with lesser supply will lead to inflation. This is because, all people will have disposable income as they are employed which gives way to the need for luxuries. When the supply is less, the prices increase. b. Cost pull: This kind of inflation is because of the rising costs. Companies have to necessarily meet these increase in costs. The best way to do it is to pass the costs to the consumers. This results in price inflation. (Economics help, 2014) Sometimes, an inflationary economy is a sign of growth. However, it may not be desired at all times (i.e.) when it grows consistently. Inflation can be controlled by increasing indirect tax rates or increasing the savings and lending rates. Increasing tax rates will make the consumers pay more tax and hence discourage them from spending. The...
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...2010-01 http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/papers/2010/wp10-01bk.pdf The views in this paper are solely the responsibility of the authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Macro-Finance Models of Interest Rates and the Economy Glenn D. Rudebusch∗ Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Abstract During the past decade, much new research has combined elements of finance, monetary economics, and macroeconomics in order to study the relationship between the term structure of interest rates and the economy. In this survey, I describe three different strands of such interdisciplinary macro-finance term structure research. The first adds macroeconomic variables and structure to a canonical arbitrage-free finance representation of the yield curve. The second examines bond pricing and bond risk premiums in a canonical macroeconomic dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. The third develops a new class of arbitrage-free term structure models that are empirically tractable and well suited to macro-finance investigations. This article is based on a keynote lecture to the 41st annual conference of the Money, Macro, and Finance Research Group on September 8, 2009. I am indebted to my earlier co-authors, especially Jens Christensen, Frank Diebold, Eric Swanson, and Tao Wu. The views expressed herein are solely the responsibility of the author. Date: December...
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...Donna Eastwood, and Kimberly Dillman July 28, 2013 ECO/372 Kevin Mc Kinley Week 4 Team Reflection Already we are into week four of our class in macroeconomics. This week held some insights for us all. We learned about assets, deficits, surplus, and debts. We also learned about fiscal policy and the problems involved with it. We all enjoyed the discussion questions. Everyone had their own beliefs about the system and how to change the OPEC oligopoly. It was all very interesting. Kimberly states in week four the material covers deficits, surplus, debt, and assets. First the material defines deficits and surplus that was easy to comprehend and extremely enlightening. As a former college student majoring in business the terms should be comprehendible but was surprising to learn the true meaning of both deficits and surplus. Deficits and surplus are both dealing with money, first the chapter 17 defines deficits as a shortfall in revenues under payments, explaining that surplus was the opposite, and this was easily understood. After further detail about deficits and surplus the chapter later introduces the definition of debt and assets is common knowledge. The material goes on to explain the difference between individual and government debt. The material concludes the chapter by explaining the burden of the US government deficits or debt. Kimberly also believed that in chapter 18 of the eBook, the material continues to cover topics written about...
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...Institution: Introduction In economics, a recession refers to a business cycle reduction. It refers to a general retardation of economic activities (Simon, 2001). Macroeconomic pointers like gross domestic product (GDP), investment spending, employment, capacity utilization, household income, inflation and business profits fall. This happens while unemployment and bankruptcies rates go up (Andrews, 2009). Recessions crops up when there is a general drop in expenditure. It follows the rising of an economic bubble or an unpredictable supply shock. Governments respond to recessions through implementing expansionary macroeconomic strategies. They tend to raise the government’s expenditure, increase money supply and lessen the amount of tax paid by the citizens (Andrews, 2009). In 2007, a global financial predicament rapidly metamorphosed from the bursting of the property bubble in the United States to the most horrible recession ever witnessed on the planet. This paper will research on the causes of the 2008-2009 economic predicament and the policies executed by various key people liable for saving the U.S. economy. It will also explain the task, constitutional authority, and the policy view of some current holders of key positions that set policies for saving the U.S. economy. In 2007, a worldwide economic predicament spread its gloom on the financial outcomes of several nations (Simon, 2001). It ended with what was often termed as the worst recession (Simon, 2001). Its source that originated...
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