Chapter 35 is about the short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Mainly focusing on both the long run and the short run of such graphs/curves (Relationship between the AD, AS, and Phillips curve). I would rate this chapter a difficulty level of 1.5/3. This is because a lot of the new information given is based on previous chapters, and that made it much easier to understand.
The book starts talking about the Phillips curve, which is a curve that shows the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. Then, it talks about how the aggregate demand, aggregate supply, and the Phillips curve, all relate to one another. The long run Phillips curve is always vertical, and just as the AS curve slopes upward only in the short run, the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment holds only in the short run.
The book then introduces the new concept of supply shocks, which are events that directly alter firms' costs and prices, shifting the economy's AS curve and thus the Phillips Curve. The next concept introduced is the sacrifice ratio, which is then umber of percentage points of annual output lost in the process of reducing inflation by 1 percentage point. Critics state that it fails to account for people's expectations, so it is inaccurate.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Chapter 34 Review
Chapter 34 talks about how the government’s tools of monetary and fiscal policy influence the position of the aggregate demand curve. I would rate this chapter a difficulty level of 1.5//3. This is because we were already introduced to the aggregate demand curve and its shifts in the previous chapter, and this chapter introduces a few new concepts, but it mostly reinforces my knowledge of the previous chapter in addition to a little more.
The book introduces the role of interest-rate targets and fed policy. Monetary policy can be described either in terms of the money supply or in terms of the interest rate. The Fed can control the money supply or interest rate, but not both. While the recent past has been a period of relative stability, stable interest rates tend to be pro-cyclical rather than counter-cyclical--which should be the focus of macroeconomic policy.
The book introduces two macroeconomic effects that make the size of the shift in aggregate demand differ from the change in G. This is the Multiplier Effect and the Crowding-out Effect. The multiplier effect is the additional shifts in aggregate demand that result when expansionary fiscal policy increase income and thereby increases consumer spending. Crowding effect happens when the offset in AD that results when expansionary fiscal policy raises the interest and thereby reduces investment spending. The multiplier effect is typically negated from the crowding effect.
The book introduces the role of interest-rate targets and fed policy. Monetary policy can be described either in terms of the money supply or in terms of the interest rate. The Fed can control the money supply or interest rate, but not both. While the recent past has been a period of relative stability, stable interest rates tend to be pro-cyclical rather than counter-cyclical--which should be the focus of macroeconomic policy.
The book introduces two macroeconomic effects that make the size of the shift in aggregate demand differ from the change in G. This is the Multiplier Effect and the Crowding-out Effect. The multiplier effect is the additional shifts in aggregate demand that result when expansionary fiscal policy increase income and thereby increases consumer spending. Crowding effect happens when the offset in AD that results when expansionary fiscal policy raises the interest and thereby reduces investment spending. The multiplier effect is typically negated from the crowding effect.
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Overall, I would give this chapter a 3/3 in difficulty. There were many new concepts to take in, and I was not able to grasp the majority of them. For example, The Model of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply was confusing for me, and it took a long time for me to finally somewhat understand. All the shifting of capital, natural resources, and so many other factors make this concept extremely hard to memorize. The Long run and short run factors including the SRAS curve make it hard also.
The book introduces The Model of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply. The Model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply is the model that most economists use to explain short-run fluctuations in economic activity around its long-run trend. The Aggregate Demand curve is a curve that shows the quantity of goods and services that households, firms, and the government want to buy at any price level. The Aggregate Supply curve is a curve that shows the quantity of goods and services that firms choose to produce and sell at any price level.
The book then talks about the short run and long run changes and the factors that influence it. Some things that influence the short run are from the shift themselves, and this could be caused by increased pessimism. Also, important ideas to note are that a temporary increase in production costs results in less being produced at each price level--the SRAS curve shifts to the left. Given the negative slope of the AD curve, prices rise and output falls. Gradually, the SRAS curve shifts up as the higher prices are recognized until the economy goes into a new equilibrium at a higher price level.
The book then talks about the short run and long run changes and the factors that influence it. Some things that influence the short run are from the shift themselves, and this could be caused by increased pessimism. Also, important ideas to note are that a temporary increase in production costs results in less being produced at each price level--the SRAS curve shifts to the left. Given the negative slope of the AD curve, prices rise and output falls. Gradually, the SRAS curve shifts up as the higher prices are recognized until the economy goes into a new equilibrium at a higher price level.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Chapter 32 Review
Chapter 32 builds on from the topics in Chapter 21. The book talks about the two different central markets, the loanable funds market, and the market for foreign currency exchange. This chapter makes use of NCO that we learned about in the previous chapter, and using it to analyze equilibrium in an open economy. This chapter used more visuals than the last chapter, and I found it helpful. I would rate this chapter a difficulty level of 1.5/3
Mankiw focuses on the supply and demand in both markets I went over. The market for loanable funds tells us about the equilibrium interest rate, the amount that people want to save exactly balances the desired quantities of domestic investment and net capital outflows. National savings is the supply of loanable funds, and investment and NCO are the demand. For the market of foreign currency exchange, we see that supply is just the supply of dollars to be exchanged into foreign currency to assets abroad, and the demand is the demand for dollars to buy net exports.
The key determinant of net capital outflow is the real interest rate, as reiterated again by Mankiw. If interest rates go up, savings have to be falling or investment has to be increasing, so NCO has to fall. If interest rates go down, savings have to be increasing or investment has to be falling, so NCO has to be increasing. This means that there is a negative relationship between the domestic rate of interest and the NCO according to the book. When investors change their attitudes about holding assets of a country, the ramifications for the country's economy can be profound. In particular, political instability can lead to capital flight, which tends to increase interest rates and cause the currency to depreciate.
Mankiw focuses on the supply and demand in both markets I went over. The market for loanable funds tells us about the equilibrium interest rate, the amount that people want to save exactly balances the desired quantities of domestic investment and net capital outflows. National savings is the supply of loanable funds, and investment and NCO are the demand. For the market of foreign currency exchange, we see that supply is just the supply of dollars to be exchanged into foreign currency to assets abroad, and the demand is the demand for dollars to buy net exports.
The key determinant of net capital outflow is the real interest rate, as reiterated again by Mankiw. If interest rates go up, savings have to be falling or investment has to be increasing, so NCO has to fall. If interest rates go down, savings have to be increasing or investment has to be falling, so NCO has to be increasing. This means that there is a negative relationship between the domestic rate of interest and the NCO according to the book. When investors change their attitudes about holding assets of a country, the ramifications for the country's economy can be profound. In particular, political instability can lead to capital flight, which tends to increase interest rates and cause the currency to depreciate.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Chapter 31 Review
Chapter 31 focuses on open markets in the economy. I would give this chapter a 2/3 in difficulty in level. Overall, this chapter was a good read and fairly simply to grasp the understanding, although there were a few concepts that took a bit longer to comprehend, such as the theory of purchasing power parity.
Net exports are the value of domestic goods and services sold abroad minus the value of foreign goods and services sold domestically. Net capital outflow is the acquisition of foreign assets by domestic residents minus the acquisition of domestic assets by foreigners. Because every international transaction involves an exchange of an asset for a good or service, an economy's net capital outflow always equals its net exports. An economy's saving can be used either to finance investment at home or to buy assets abroad. Thus, national saving equals domestic investment plus net capital outflow.
The nominal exchange rate is the relative price of the currency of two countries, and the real exchange rate is the relative price of the goods and services of two countries. When the nominal exchange rate changes so that each dollar buys more foreign currency, the dollar is said to appreciate or strengthen. When the nominal exchange rate changes so that each dollar buys less foreign currency, the dollar is said to depreciate or weaken.
According to the theory of purchasing-power parity, a dollar should be able to buy the same quantity of goods in all countries. This theory implies that the nominal exchange rate between the currencies of two countries should reflect the price levels in those countries. As a result, countries with relatively high inflation should have depreciating currencies, and countries with relatively low inflation should have appreciating currencies.
Net exports are the value of domestic goods and services sold abroad minus the value of foreign goods and services sold domestically. Net capital outflow is the acquisition of foreign assets by domestic residents minus the acquisition of domestic assets by foreigners. Because every international transaction involves an exchange of an asset for a good or service, an economy's net capital outflow always equals its net exports. An economy's saving can be used either to finance investment at home or to buy assets abroad. Thus, national saving equals domestic investment plus net capital outflow.
The nominal exchange rate is the relative price of the currency of two countries, and the real exchange rate is the relative price of the goods and services of two countries. When the nominal exchange rate changes so that each dollar buys more foreign currency, the dollar is said to appreciate or strengthen. When the nominal exchange rate changes so that each dollar buys less foreign currency, the dollar is said to depreciate or weaken.
According to the theory of purchasing-power parity, a dollar should be able to buy the same quantity of goods in all countries. This theory implies that the nominal exchange rate between the currencies of two countries should reflect the price levels in those countries. As a result, countries with relatively high inflation should have depreciating currencies, and countries with relatively low inflation should have appreciating currencies.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Chapter 30 Review
Chapter 30 goes in depth about the causes and effects of inflation in an economy. This chapter was more difficult to understand than the other chapters. Some parts that I found it hard to understand were the shoeleather costs and the Fisher effect. I think that the velocity and quantity equation the book gave was a bit unusual, and the number of times that a single dollar switches ownership is hard to compute. I would give this chapter a 2/3.
The book uses supply and demand to discuss the equilibrium money supply set by the government. It alsouses a variety of examples, numbers, charts and vocabulary to teach about the effects and causes of inflation.
The book uses supply and demand to discuss the equilibrium money supply set by the government. It alsouses a variety of examples, numbers, charts and vocabulary to teach about the effects and causes of inflation.
Inflation was introduced as mostly caused by an increase of supply of money in the economy, with the argument that injecting money into the economy promotes economic activity. All economists agree that the costs become huge during hyper-inflation. But their size for moderate inflation, when prices rise by less than 10% per year, is more open to debate. When the central bank reduces the rate of money growth, prices rise less rapidly, as the quantity theory suggests. Yet as the economy makes the transition to this lower inflation rate, the change in monetary policy will have disruptive effects on production and employment,
Even though monetary policy is neutral in the long run, it has profound effects on real variables in the short run. Many people think that inflation makes them poorer because it raises the cost of what they buy. This view is a fallacy, however, because inflation also raises nominal incomes. The overall level of prices in an economy adjusts to bring money supply and money demand into balance. When the central bank increases, the supply of money, it causes the price level to rise. Persistent growth in the quantity of money supplied leads to continuing inflation. Overall, the chapter was quite difficult to understand, and is probably the hardest chapter so far.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Chapter 29 Review
I would give this chapter a 2/3 in difficulty. The Fed's Organization was a bit hard to understand initially due to lots of content, and it took a while for me to understand the purpose and significance of the money multiplier. The chapter began with the loose definition of money and the monetary system in general, and that part was easier to understand.
In this chapter, Mankiw begins to talk about money and prices, in the long run, specifically focusing on the monetary system. Money is typically known to have a loose definition and can be seen as subjective and it is important to define what money actually is. Money is "the set of assets in an economy that people regularly use to buy goods and services from other people." There are tons of different functions of money. The first is the medium of exchange which is "an item that buyers give to sellers when they want to purchase goods and services." A unit of account is "the yardstick people use to post prices and record debts." A store of value is "an item that people can use to transfer purchasing power from the present to the future." Liquidity is "the ease with which an asset can be converted into the economy's medium of exchange." The book then moves on to the kinds of money.
First is commodity money which is "money that takes the form of a commodity with intrinsic value."
Second, there is fiat money which is defined as "money without intrinsic value that is used as money because of government decree." The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, is responsible for regulating the U.S. monetary system. The Fed chairman is appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress every 4 years. The chairman is the lead member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which meets about every 6 weeks to consider changes in monetary policy. The Fed controls the money supply primarily through open-market operations: The purchase of government bonds increases the money supply, and the sale of government bonds decreases the money supply.
The Federal Reserve has in recent years set monetary policy by choosing a target for the federal fund's rate, a short-term interest rate at which banks make loans to one another. As the Fed achieves its target, it adjusts the money supply.
In this chapter, Mankiw begins to talk about money and prices, in the long run, specifically focusing on the monetary system. Money is typically known to have a loose definition and can be seen as subjective and it is important to define what money actually is. Money is "the set of assets in an economy that people regularly use to buy goods and services from other people." There are tons of different functions of money. The first is the medium of exchange which is "an item that buyers give to sellers when they want to purchase goods and services." A unit of account is "the yardstick people use to post prices and record debts." A store of value is "an item that people can use to transfer purchasing power from the present to the future." Liquidity is "the ease with which an asset can be converted into the economy's medium of exchange." The book then moves on to the kinds of money.
First is commodity money which is "money that takes the form of a commodity with intrinsic value."
Second, there is fiat money which is defined as "money without intrinsic value that is used as money because of government decree." The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, is responsible for regulating the U.S. monetary system. The Fed chairman is appointed by the president and confirmed by Congress every 4 years. The chairman is the lead member of the Federal Open Market Committee, which meets about every 6 weeks to consider changes in monetary policy. The Fed controls the money supply primarily through open-market operations: The purchase of government bonds increases the money supply, and the sale of government bonds decreases the money supply.
The Federal Reserve has in recent years set monetary policy by choosing a target for the federal fund's rate, a short-term interest rate at which banks make loans to one another. As the Fed achieves its target, it adjusts the money supply.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Chapter 28 Review
Chapter 28’s main focus was on unemployment and how to calculate the percentages of those working to the labor force and the labor force to the adult population. Overall, these concepts were relatively easy to understand through the way book describes the topics and the examples it provides. Rating would be a 1.5/3.
This chapter was longer than the others, but the book does a great job in making sure the information is clear and shows connections to real life effectively. the book also defines the two different kinds of unemployment, frictional and structural. Frictional unemployment is due to wanting to find a job that suits your tastes and it always changes via a change in taste otherwise known as sectoral shifts. Structural unemployment is a lack of wanted jobs in certain labor markets due to an increase in wages.
One reason for unemployment is the time it takes workers to search for jobs that best suit their tastes and skills. This frictional unemployment is increased as a result of unemployment insurance, a government policy designed to protect workers' incomes. A second reason our economy always has some unemployment is minimum-wage laws. By raising the wage of unskilled and inexperienced workers above the equilibrium level, minimum wage laws raise the quantity of labor supplied and reduce the quantity demanded. The surplus of labor represents unemployment.
A third reason for unemployment is the market power of unions. When unions push the wages in unionized industries above the equilibrium level, they create a surplus of labor.
This chapter was longer than the others, but the book does a great job in making sure the information is clear and shows connections to real life effectively. the book also defines the two different kinds of unemployment, frictional and structural. Frictional unemployment is due to wanting to find a job that suits your tastes and it always changes via a change in taste otherwise known as sectoral shifts. Structural unemployment is a lack of wanted jobs in certain labor markets due to an increase in wages.
One reason for unemployment is the time it takes workers to search for jobs that best suit their tastes and skills. This frictional unemployment is increased as a result of unemployment insurance, a government policy designed to protect workers' incomes. A second reason our economy always has some unemployment is minimum-wage laws. By raising the wage of unskilled and inexperienced workers above the equilibrium level, minimum wage laws raise the quantity of labor supplied and reduce the quantity demanded. The surplus of labor represents unemployment.
A third reason for unemployment is the market power of unions. When unions push the wages in unionized industries above the equilibrium level, they create a surplus of labor.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Chapter 27 Review
Finances were the main focus of Chapter 27. Mankiw’s teaching of the present/future value of money was pretty easy to understand mathematically. Conceptually with the risk aversion and insurance market (with its risk adverse selection) was explained well and left little room for confusion. Overall, this chapter was simple in its ideas and wasn’t hard to read. I would give this a difficulty level of 1.5/3. In order to calculate the present value and future values, you need to have the interest and we assume that the interest rate will not change as much as it has recently.
I think this chapter will have more real life applications as we are into Macro, this chapter teaches us how to diversify our risk and spread it out instead of dumping it all on one item. There is no way to get rid of risk completely, but there is a way to minimize it. The present value states that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and it gives a way to compare sums of money at different points in time. This is because due to savings earn interest, a sum of money in present day is more valuable than the same sum of money in the future. The present value of any future sum is the amount that would be needed today, given prevailing interest rates, to produce that future sum.
The book says that due to diminishing marginal utility, most people are risk averse. Risk-averse people can reduce risk by buying insurance, diversifying their holdings, and choosing a portfolio with lower risk and lower return. The value of an asset equals the present value of the cash flows the owner will receive. According to the efficient markets hypothesis, financial markets process available information rationally, so a stock price always equals the best estimate of the value of the underlying business.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Chapter 26 Review
I thought this chapter was relatively hard compared to the previous chapter because there were many vocabulary terms to understand, and the concepts of this chapter are new to me, so it took a longer time for me to grasp the subject. (Stocks/stockholders and private/public saving) I would rate this chapter a 2/3.
Chapter 26 starts off describing how the Unites States financial system is made up of many types of financial institutions, such as the bond market, the stock market, banks, and mutual funds. All these institutions act to direct the resources of households that want to save some of their income into the hands of households and firms that want to borrow.
The book, later on, talks about national income accounting identities, which reveals some important relationships among macroeconomic variables. In particular, for a closed economy, national saving must equal investment. In a bond, the company will borrow money from the public in the promise of eventually paying the initial amount back, along with some interest. Of course, there are dangerous of defaulting on a bond, which can be made up for by offering higher interest rates to incentivize lenders. Stocks are introduced by Mankiw as a share of the company. If the company profits, so do the stockholders, but if the company loses, the bondholders get paid first before the stockholders get anything.
The book then moves to financial intermediaries, and the two examples used to explain are banks and mutual funds. Banks are explained by Mankiw as a place where people put their money in, and the bank will pay them interest on their money in exchange for lending out their money to borrowers for a slightly higher interest rate. This allows for a small profit for the bankers. Mutual funds seem to be less risky than either option since it’s not focusing all “your eggs in one basket” as Mankiw states. That was the first half of the chapter, and the second half seemed to just explain government surplus/deficit as well as private/public saving.
Chapter 26 starts off describing how the Unites States financial system is made up of many types of financial institutions, such as the bond market, the stock market, banks, and mutual funds. All these institutions act to direct the resources of households that want to save some of their income into the hands of households and firms that want to borrow.
The book, later on, talks about national income accounting identities, which reveals some important relationships among macroeconomic variables. In particular, for a closed economy, national saving must equal investment. In a bond, the company will borrow money from the public in the promise of eventually paying the initial amount back, along with some interest. Of course, there are dangerous of defaulting on a bond, which can be made up for by offering higher interest rates to incentivize lenders. Stocks are introduced by Mankiw as a share of the company. If the company profits, so do the stockholders, but if the company loses, the bondholders get paid first before the stockholders get anything.
The book then moves to financial intermediaries, and the two examples used to explain are banks and mutual funds. Banks are explained by Mankiw as a place where people put their money in, and the bank will pay them interest on their money in exchange for lending out their money to borrowers for a slightly higher interest rate. This allows for a small profit for the bankers. Mutual funds seem to be less risky than either option since it’s not focusing all “your eggs in one basket” as Mankiw states. That was the first half of the chapter, and the second half seemed to just explain government surplus/deficit as well as private/public saving.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Chapter 24 Review
Overall I would give this chapter a difficulty rating of 1.5/3. The general idea of the chapter revolves around the CPI, and the CPI, although initially difficult to understand, became easier. The book does a good job of explaining by using the basket example. Also, although there were a few equations (inflation rate and dollar figures from different times) to memorize, it didn't seem to hard to understand, only hard to keep into memory.
Chapter 24 began by introducing the topic of CPI, also known as consumer price index. It measures the overall cost of the goods and services bought by a typical consumer. The book also discusses the concepts of inflation based on real and nominal interest rates. The book had a very nice way of explaining this, especially with the basket example.
CPI also fails to account for the introduction of new goods in the market, making the so called basket unreliable as consumers may be interested in purchasing new goods. There are a lot of arguments that CPI overestimates the cost of living, and many are against it, espciailly those of which incomes are based according to CPI. Due to these reasons, the CPI overstates true inflation. Similar to the CPI, the GDP deflator measures the overall level of prices in the economy.
The nominal interest rate and the real interest rates were re-introduced in this chapter, and they were easy to understand because we learned it last chapter and this concept seemed more familiar.
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Chapter 23 Review
I would give this chapter a 1.5/3 in difficulty. This chapter is basically setting the foundation of Macroeconomics by explaining the concepts of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The concepts are mostly common sense, and only some parts of this chapter (GDP Deflator) were a bit confusing, but that no longer was a problem once I read it over multiple times.
The book first introduces GDP and its definition: the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. I would say that the book does a good job of explaining the definition because it elaborates on each part of the definition, separating it into their own categories. "Of all", "Final," "Goods and Services", etc.
Then the book goes on to give us an equation, Y= C +I +G+NX. This equation basically defines the components of GDP. Consumption, Investments (as mentioned in the book, doesn't mean financial investments, it actually means purchases of investment goods), government purchases, and net exports.
An interesting part of the GDP is that there are two types. Nominal, and real. The only part at which they differ is choosing a constant price or a current price. In addition, the book introduces the idea of GDP Deflator. I had a little bit of trouble trying to understand how to use it, but the table the book provided helped me comprehend this new concept.
The book first introduces GDP and its definition: the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. I would say that the book does a good job of explaining the definition because it elaborates on each part of the definition, separating it into their own categories. "Of all", "Final," "Goods and Services", etc.
Then the book goes on to give us an equation, Y= C +I +G+NX. This equation basically defines the components of GDP. Consumption, Investments (as mentioned in the book, doesn't mean financial investments, it actually means purchases of investment goods), government purchases, and net exports.
An interesting part of the GDP is that there are two types. Nominal, and real. The only part at which they differ is choosing a constant price or a current price. In addition, the book introduces the idea of GDP Deflator. I had a little bit of trouble trying to understand how to use it, but the table the book provided helped me comprehend this new concept.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)