Unit-1 Introduction To Macroeconomics and National Income Accounting
Unit-1 Introduction To Macroeconomics and National Income Accounting
Unit-1 Introduction To Macroeconomics and National Income Accounting
Review Questions
Q2. What is business cycle? How does the unemployment rate behave over the course of
business cycle? Does the unemployment rate ever reach zero?
The business cycle refers to the short-run movements (expansions and recessions) of
economic activity. The unemployment rate rises in recessions and declines in expansions.
The unemployment rate never reaches zero, even at the peak of an expansion.
Q3. Define inflation and deflation. Compare the behaviour of consumer prices in the united
states in the years before and after world war 2?
A period of inflation is one in which prices (on average) are rising over time. Deflation occurs
when prices are falling on average over time. Before World War II, prices tended to rise
during war periods and fall after the wars ended; over the long run, the price level remained
fairly constant. Since World War 11, however, prices have risen fairly steadily.
Q4. Historically , when has the federal government been most likely to run budget deficits ?
What has been the recent experiences?
The budget deficit is the annual excess of government spending over tax collections- The
U.S. federal government has been most likely to run deficits during wars. From the early
1980s to the mid–1990s, deficits were very large, even without a major war. The U.S.
government ran surpluses for several years, from 1998 to 2001.
Q5. Define trade deficit and trade surplus. In recent years, has the U.S economy had trade
deficits or surpluses?
The trade deficit is the amount by which imports exceed exports; the trade surplus is the
amount by which exports exceed imports, so it is the negative of the trade deficit. In recent
years the United States has had huge trade deficits.
Q6. List the principal professional activities of macroeconomists. What role does
macroeconomic research play in each of these activities?
Macroeconomists engage in forecasting, macroeconomic analysis, macroeconomic research,
and data development. Macroeconomic research can be useful in investing forecasting
models to improve forecasts, in providing more information on how the economy works to
help macroeconomic analysts, and in telling data developers what types of data shou1d be
collected. Research provides the basis (results and ideas) for forecasting, analysis, and data
development.
Q8. Might two economists agree about the effects of a particular economic policy but
disagree about the desirability of implementing the policy? Explain your answer
Yes; it is possible for economists to agree about the effects of a policy (that is, to agree on
the positive analysis of the policy), but to disagree about the policy’s desirability (normative
analysis). For example, suppose economists agreed that reducing inflation to zero within the
next year would cause a recession (positive analysis). Some economists might argue that
inflation should be reduced, because they prefer low inflation even at the cost of higher
unemployment. Others would argue that inflation isn’t as harmful to people as
unemployment is, and would oppose such a policy. This is normative analysis. as it involves a
value judgment about what policy should be.
Q9. Compare the classical and Keynesian views on the speed of wage and price adjustment.
What are the important consequences of the differences in their views?
Classical see wages and price adjustment occurring rapidly, while Keynesians think that
wages and prices adjust only slowly when the economy is out of equilibrium. The classical
theory implies that unemployment will non-persist because wages and prices adjust to bring
the economy rapidly back to equilibrium. But if Keynesian theory is correct, then the slow
response of wages and prices means that unemp1oyit may persist for long periods of time
unless the government intervenes.
Q10. What was stagflation, and when did it occur? How did it change economists views about
macroeconomics?
Stagflation was a combination stagnation (high unemployment) and inflation in the 1970s. It
changed economists’ views because the Keynesian approach couldn’t explain stagflation
satisfactorily.
Q2. Prices were much higher in the united states in 2009 than in 1890.Does this fact mean that
people were economically better off in 1890?why or why not?
Just because price were lower in 1890 than they were in 2003 does not mean that people
were better off hack then. People’s incomes have risen much faster than prices have risen
over the last 100 years, so they are better off today in terms of real income.
Q3. State a theory for why people vote republican or democratic that potentially could satisfy
the criteria for a useful theory given in the text .How would you go about testing your
theory?
There are many possible theories. One possibility is that people whose last names begin with
the letters A through M vote Democratic, while those whose names begin with the letters N
through Z vote Republican. You could test this theory by taking exit polls or checking the lists
of registered voters by party. However, this theory fails the criterion of being reasonable,
since there is no good reason to expect the first letters of people’s last names to matter for
their political preferences.
A better theory might be one based on income. For example, you might make the
assumption that the Republican Party promotes business interests, while the Democratic
Party is more interested in redistributing income. Then you might expect people with higher
incomes to vote Republican and people with lower incomes to vote Democratic. This could
be tested by taking a survey of people as they left the polls. In this case the assumptions of
the theory seem reasonable and realistic, and the model is simple enough to understand and
to apply. So it is potentially a useful model.
Q4. Which of the following statements are positive in nature and which are normative?
a. A tax cut will raise interest rate
b. A reduction in the payroll tax would primarily improve poor and middle class workers
c. Payroll taxes are too high
d. A cut in the payroll tax would improve the president’s popularity ratings
Q5. In 2002 states imposed tariffs on steel because the foreign steel producers were able to
sell steel cheaply because they received subsidy from their respective governments
causing unemployment in the states .what might a classical economist say in response to
these claims? Would a Keynesian economist be more or less sympathetic to the imposition
of tariffs why?
A classical economist might argue that the economy would work more efficiently without
the government trying to influence trade. The imposition of tariffs increases trade barriers,
interfering, with the invisible hand. The tariffs simply protect an industry that is failing to
operate efficiently and is not competitive internationally.
A Keynesian economist might be more sympathetic to concerns about the steel industry.
Keynesians might argue that there may need to be a long-run adjustment in the steel
industry, but would want to prevent workers in the steel industry from becoming
unemployed in the short run.
1. The two major reasons for the tremendous growth in-output in the U.S. economy over the
last 125 years are
(a) population growth and low inflation
(b) population growth and increased productivity.
(c) low unemployment and [ow inflation.
(d) low inflation and low trade deficits.
Answer: (b)
2. The main reason that the United States has such a high standard of living is
(a) low unemployment
(b) high average labor productivity.
(c) low inflation.
(d) high government budget deficits.
Answer: (b)
3. Average labor productivity is the
(a) amount of workers per machine
(b) amount of machines per machine
(c) ratio of employed to unemployed workers.
(d) amount of output per
Answer: (d)
4. In which of the following periods did average labor productivity in the United States grow
the fastest?
(a) 1929 to 1935
(b) 1949 to 1973
(c) 1973 to 1995
(d) 1995 to 2002
Answer: (b)
5. The most direct effect of an increase in the growth rate of average labor productivity would
be an increase iii
(a) the inflation rate.
(b) the unemployment rate
(c) the long–run economic growth rate.
(d) imported goods.
Answer: (d)
7. When national output rises, the economy is said to be in
(a) an expansion.
(b) a deflation.
(c) an inflation.
(d) a recession.
Answer: (a)
8. Which of the following best describes a typical business cycle ?
(a) Economic expansions are followed by economic contractions
(b) Inflation is followed by unemployment
(c) Trade surpluses are followed by trade deficits
(d) Stagflation is followed by inflationary economic growth
Answer: (a)
9. During recessions, the unemployment rate and output
(a) rises; falls
(b) rises; rises
(c) falls; rises
(d) falls; falls
Answer: (a)
10. The number of unemployed divided by the labor force equals
(a) the inflation rate.
(b) the labor force participation rate.
(c) the unemployment rate.
(d) the misery index.
Answer: (c)
11. The highest and most prolonged period of unemployment in the United States over the last
125 years occurred during
(a) World War II.
(b) the 1890s Depression.
Text
(a) use the theory to predict what would happen if the economic setting or economic
policies change
(b) start from scratch with a new model.
(c) enrich the model with additional assumptions.
(d) restate the research question.
Answer: (b)
37. Positive analysis of economic policy
(a) examines the economic consequences of po1ices not address the question of whether
those consequences are desirable.
(b) examines the economic consequences of policies and addresses the question of whether
those consequences are desirable.
(c) generates less agreement among economists than normative analysis
(d) is rare in questions of economic policy.
Answer; (a)
38. Equilibrium in the economy means
(a) unemployment is zero
(b) quantities demanded and supplied are equal in all markets.
(c) prices are not changing over time.
(d) tax revenues equal government spending, so the government has no budget deficit.
Answer : (b)
Review Questions
Q1. What are the three approaches to measuring economic activity? Why do they give the same
answer?
Answer: The three approaches to national income accounting are the product approach, income
approach and the expenditure approach .They all give the same answer because they are designed
that way ;any entry based on one approach has an entry in the other approaches with the same
value. Whenever output is produced and sold, its production is counted in the product approach, its
sale is counted in the expenditure approach, and the funds received by the seller are counted in the
income approach
Q2. Why are goods and services counted in GDP at market value? Are there any disadvantages in
using market values to measure production?
ANSWER: Goods and services are counted at market value in GDP accounting so that different types
of goods and services can be added together. Using market prices allows us to count up the total
money value of all the economy’s output .The problem with this approach is that not all goods and
services are sold in markets, so we may not be able to count everything. Important examples are
homemaking and environmental quality
Q3. What is difference between intermediate and final goods and services? In which of these two
categories do capital gods such as factories and machines, fall? Why is the distinction between
intermediate and final goods important for measuring GDP?
ANSWER: Intermediate goods and services are used up in producing other goods in the same period
in which they were produced, while final goods and services are those that are purchased by
consumers or are capital goods that are used to produce future output.Thus factories and machines
will be final goods. The distinction is important, because we want to count only the value of final
goods produced in the economy, not the value of goods produced each step along the way
Q4. How does GDP differ from GNP? If a country employs many foreign workers, which is likely to
be higher: GDP OR GNP?
ANSWER: gross national product is the market value of final goods and services newly produced by
domestic factors of production like labour and capital during the current period, whereas GDP is
production taking place within a country. If a country employs many foreign workers than GDP is
likely o be higher
Q6. Define private saving .How is private saving used in the economy? What is the relationship
between private saving and national saving?
ANSWER: Private saving is private disposable income minus consumption. Private disposable income
is total output minus taxes paid plus transfers and interest received from the government. Private
saving is used to finance investment spending, the government budget deficit, and the current
account. National saving is private saving plus government saving
Put in symbols
Spvt = ( Y+NFP+TR+INT-T) –C
Sgovt = ( T-TR-INT) –G
Government saving is the same as government budget surplus and is the negative of government
budget deficit
Q7. What is national wealth? Why is it important? How is national wealth related to national
saving?
Answer: National wealth is the total wealth of the residents of a country, and consists of its domestic
physical assets and net foreign assets. Wealth is important because the long-run economic well-
being of a country depends on it. National wealth is related to national saving because national
saving is the flow of additions to the stock of national wealth.
Q8. For the purposes of assessing an economy’s growth performance, which is more important
statistic; real GDP or nominal GDP?
Answer: Real GDP is the useful concept for figuring out a country’s growth performance. Nominal
GDP may rise because of increases in prices rather than growth in real output.
Q9. Describe how CPI and CPI inflation are calculated. What are some reasons that CPI inflation
may overstate the true increase in the cost of living?
Q10. Explain the differences between the nominal intrest rate, the real intrest rate, and the
expected real intrest rate . Which intrest rate concept is the most important for the
decisions made by borrowers and lenders?
Answer: The nominal interest rate is the rate at which the nominal (or dollar) value of an asset
increases over time. The real interest rate is the rate at which the real value or purchasing
power of an asset increases time, and is equal to the nominal interest rate minus the
inflation rate. The expected real interest rate is the rate at which the real value of an asset is
expected to increase overtime. It is equal to the nominal interest rate minus the expected
inflation rate. The concept that is most important to borrowers and lenders is the expected
real interest rate, because it affects their decisions to borrow or lend.
3. ABC Computer Company has a $20,000,000 factory in Silicon Valley. During the current
year ABC builds $2,000,000 worth of computer components. ABC’s costs are labor,
$1,000,000; interest on debt, $l00,lXtl; and taxes, $200,000.
ABC sells all its output to XYZ Supercomputer. Using ABC’s components, XYZ builds four
supercomputers at a cost of $800,000 each ($500,000 worth of components, $200,000 in
labor costs, and $100,000 in taxes per computer). XYZ has a $30,000,000 factory
XYZ sells three of the supercomputers for $1,000,000 each. At year’s end, it had not sold
the fourth. The unsold computer is carried on XYZ’s books as an $800,000 increase in
inventory
a. Calculate the contributions to CDI’ of these transactions, showing that all three
approaches give the same answer.
b. Repeat part (a), but now assume that, in addition to its other costs, ABC paid
$500,000 for imported computer chips.
(a) ABC produces output valued at $2 million and has total expenses of $l.3 million
($1 million for labor, $0.l. million interest. $0.2 million taxes). So its profits are $0.7 million.
XYZ produces output valued at $3.8 million ($3 million for the three computers that were
4. For each of the following transactions, determine the contribution to the current year’s
GDP. Explain the effects on the product, income, and expenditure accounts.
a. On January 1, you purchase 10 gallons of gasoline at $2.80 per gallon. The gas
station purchased the gasoline the previous week at a wholesale price
(transportation included) of $2.60 per gallon.
b. Colonel Hogwash purchases a Civil War–era mansion for $1,000,000. The broker’s
fee is 6%.
c. A homemaker enters the work force, taking a job that will pay $40,000 over the
year. The homemaker must pay $16,000 over the year for professional child care
services.
d. A Japanese company builds an auto plant in Tennessee for $100,000,000, using
only local labor and materials. (Hint: The auto plant is a capital good produced by
Americans and purchased by the Japanese.)
e. You are informed that you have won $3,000,000 in the New Jersey State Lottery,
to be paid to you, in total, immediately
6. Consider an economy that produces only three types of fruit: apples, oranges, and
bananas. In the base year (a few years ago), the production and price data were as
follows:
Fruit Quantity Price
Apples 3,000 bags $2 per bag
Bananas 6,000 bunches $3 per bunch
Oranges 8,000 bags $4 per bag
In the current year the production and price data are follows:
Fruit Quantity Price
Apples 4,000 bags $3 per bag
Bananas 14,000 bunches $2 per bunch
Oranges 32,000 bags $5 per bag
a. Find nominal GOP in the current year and in the base year. What is the percentage
increase since the base year?
b. Find real GOP in the current year and in the base year. By what percentage does
real GOP increase from the base year to the current year?
c. Find the GOP deflator for the current year and the base year. By what percentage
does the price level change from the base year to the current year?
d. Would you say that the percentage increase in nominal GDP in this economy since
the base year is due more to increases in prices or increases in the physical volume
of output?
Base – year quantity at current – year price at base-year prices
Apples 3,000 $3 = $ 9,000 3000 $2 = $ 6,000
Bananas 6,000 $2 = $ 12,000 6000 $3 = $ 18,000
Oranges 8,000 $5 = $10,000 8000 $4 = $ 32,000
$ 61,000 $ 56,000
7. For the consumer price index values shown, calculate the rate of inflation in each year
from 1930 to 1933. What is unusual about this period, relative to recent experience?
Year 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933
CPI 51.3 50.0 45.6 40.9 38.8
Calculating inflation rates:
1929–30: [50.0/51.3) – 1] 100% = –2.5%
1930–31: [45.6/50.0) – 1] 100% = –8.8%
1931–32: [40.9/45.6) – 1] 100% = –10.3%
1932–33: [(38.8/40.9) – l] 100% = –5.1%
These all show deflation (prices are declining over time), whereas recently we have had nothing but
inflation (prices rising over time).
8. Hy Masks buys a one-year government bond on January 1,2009, for $500. He receives
principal plus interest totaling $545 on January 1, 2010. Suppose that the CPI is 200 on
January 1,2009, and 214 on January 1, 2010. This increase in prices is more than Fly had
anticipated; his guess was that the CPJ would be at 210 by the beginning of 2010. Find the
nominal interest rate, the inflation rate, the real interest rate, Fly’s expected inflation rate,
and Hy’s expected real interest rate.
The nominal interest rates is
[(545/500) – 1] 100% = 9%.
The inflation rate is [(214/200) – 1] 100% = 7%.
So the real interest rate is 2% (9% nominal rate 7% inflation rate).
Expected inflation was only
[(210/200) – 1] 100% = 5%,
So the expected real interest rate was 4% (9% nominal rate – 5% expected inflation rate).
Some examples will show how the principle of double entry bookkeeping operates in practice.
Imagine you buy an ink-jet fax machine from the Italian company Olivetti and pay for your purchase
with a $1,000 check. Your payment to buy a good (the fax machine) from a foreign resident enters
the US current account with a negative sign. But where it the offsetting balance of payments credit ?
Olivetti's U.S. sales person must do s1omething with your check let’s say he deposits- it in Olivetti's
account at Citibank in New York in this case, Olivetti has purchased and Citibank has sold, a US asset
– a bank deposit worth $1,000–and the transaction shows up as a $1,000 credit in the U.S. financial
account. The transaction creates the following two offsetting bookkeeping entries in the U.S.
balance of payments:
Credit Debit
Fax machine purchase (Current account, U.S. good import) –$1,000
Sale of bank deposit by Citibank +$1,000
(Financial account, U.S. asset export)
As another example, suppose that during your travels in France you pay $200 for a fine dinner at the
Restaurant de I’Escargot d’Or. Lacking cash, you place the charge on your Visa credit card. Your
payment, which is a tourist expenditure, would be counted as a service import for the United States,
and therefore as a current account debit. Where is the offsetting credit? Your signature on the Visa
slip entitles the restaurant to receive $200 (actually, its local currency equivalent) from First Card,
the company that issued your Visa card. It is therefore an asset, a claim on a future payment from
First Card. So when you pay for your meal abroad with your credit card, you are selling an asset to
France and generating a $200 credit in the U.S. financial account The pattern of offsetting debits and
credits in this case is:
Credit Debit
Meal purchase (Current account, U.S. service import) –$2--
Sale of claim on First Card +$200
(Financial account, U.S. asset export)
Imagine next that your Uncle Sid from Los Angeles buys a newly issued share of stock in the U K oil
giant British Petroleum (BP) He places his order with his stockbroker Go for Broke mc, paying $95
with a check drawn his Go-for-Broke money market account BP, in turn deposits the $95 dollars Sal
has paid its drawn US bank account at Second Bank of Chicago Uncle Sid 5 acquisition of the stock
create& a $95 debit in the U S financial account (he has purchased an asset from a foreign resident,
HP), while HP s $95 deposit at its Chicago bank is the offsetting financial Account credit (HP has
expanded its U S asset holdings) The mirror-image effects on the U balance of payments therefore
both appear in the financial account:
Credit Debit
IMP Qs.
1. Explain how each of the following transactions generates two entries—a credit and a debit—in
the American balance of payments accounts, and describe how each entry would be classified:
a. An American buys a share of French stock, paying by writing a check on an account
with a Swiss bank.
b. An American buys a share of French stock, paying the seller with a check on an
American bank.
c. The Japanese government carries out an official foreign exchange intervention in
which it uses dollars held in an American bank to buy Japanese currency (yen)
from its citizens.
d. A tourist from Boston buys a meal at an expensive restaurant in London, England,
paying with a traveler’s check.
e. A California winemaker contributes a case of cabernet sauvignon for a Madrid
wine tasting.
f. A U.S-owned factory in Argentina uses local earnings to boy additional machinery.
a. The purchase of the German stock is a debit in the U.S. financial account. There is a
corresponding credit in the U.S. financial account when the American pays with a check on
his Swiss bank account because his claim on the Switzerland fall by the amount of the check.
This is a case in which an American trade one foreign asset for another
b. Again, there is a U S financial account debit as a result of the purchase of a German stock by
an American. The corresponding credit in this case occurs when the German seller the US
2. A person from New Hampshire travels to Maine to buy a $50 telephone answering
machine. The Maine company that sells the machine then deposits the $50 check in its
account at a New Hampshire bank. How would these transactions show up in the balance
of payments accounts of New Hampshire and Maine? What if the person from New
Hampshire pays cash for the machine? -
The purchase of the answering machine is a current account debit for New York and a current
account credit for New Jersey. When the New Jersey Company deposits the money in its New York
bank, there is a financial account credit for New York and a corresponding debit for New Jersey. If
the transaction is in cash then the corresponding debit for New Jersey and credit for New York also
show up in their financial accounts. New Jersey acquires dollar bills (an import of assets from New
York, and therefore a debit item in its financial account); New-York losses the dollars (an export of
dollar bills, and thus a financial account credit). Notice that this last adjustment is analogous to what
would occur under a gold standard